A Burning Tragedy
by MWolfL
Summary: Friends and family of the Mane Seven are in Manehattan for the party celebrating the opening of the new orphanage. But then a fire causes a tragedy that changes Scootaloo's and Rainbow Dash's lives in a big way, though not in an entirely bad way.
1. New Visitors to Manehattan

It was a week after Trenderhoof interviewed Richie about the orphanage, and the day the celebration was going to take place. Friends and family of the Mane Six showed up for the celebration, with some exceptions.

Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor's parents Night Light and Twilight Velvet made it, and even Shining Armor and Cadance made it due to arranging things so that the Crystal Empire Court could take over for a while. Despite not being a baby anymore Flurry Heart was still too young for the trip, and so was left behind with babysitters. And of course Spike came.

Rarity's parents and sister made it. Truthfully Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles weren't into going to formal events, but this one was about something important that their daughter helped with so they came just to be supportive of that. Sweetie Belle on the other hand was really excited since she enjoyed fancy stuff. Not as much as Rarity did of course, but certainly a lot more than their parents did.

Fluttershy's parents and brother couldn't make it due to not being able to afford to stay in Manehattan overnight (mostly thanks to Fluttershy's brother being a freeloader). However she did invite Tree Hugger, who agreed to come, so at least Fluttershy had one guest.

Rainbow Dash's dad Rainbow Blaze made it as well. As for her mom, well, Rainbow Dash will bring her up later in the story.

Due to a stroke of bad timing Scootaloo's parents had to work overtime that day and so couldn't make it. Because of this Rainbow Dash had to head back to Ponyville to pick up Scootaloo, since she wasn't old enough to travel by herself. However Scootaloo's parents did promise to come later that night so that they could spend the next day with Scootaloo before needing to go back to work.

Also the Wonderbolts couldn't make it since Wonderbolt Academy was starting soon and they had to prepare the academy for old and new trainees. Rainbow Dash was going to participate as well, but only as a helper since she didn't have as high a rank as the other Wonderbolts. Because of this she didn't need as much preparation time as the others, and so was allowed to go to the celebration and even stay overnight without a problem.

As for Applejack only Apple Bloom could come, so Rainbow Dash picked her up too. Granny Smith was too old for long trips and Big Mac wanted to stay behind to keep her company. Applejack didn't mind though, since Richie had agreed to visiting Sweet Apple Acres with her after the celebration to properly meet her family. Besides, Aunt and Uncle Orange and Babs Seed were going.

In Pinkie Pie's case the Cakes didn't want to leave Pumpkin and Pound Cake behind even with babysitters - mostly because they were usually too busy to spend any real time with their foals - so they politely declined. Pinkie understood this, and was at least relieved that her sister Maud Pie and their mom Cloudy Quartz were able to make it. Their dad Igneous Rock Pie was still busy on the farm, and their sisters Limestone Pie and Marble Pie had to stay to help him (plus Marble Pie wasn't comfortable with large parties).

Even Starlight and Sunburst made it, though it wasn't easy for Sunburst. He at first refused to come since he hadn't left the Crystal Empire ever since he first moved in and was too nervous to socialize further, but Starlight convinced him to come by reassuring him that she would be there and most of the guests would be friends or family of friends.

Flicker Sentry also came with his parents, and even Celestia and Luna came (after arranging things with the Canterlot Court of course). Discord came as well, but mostly to be with his friends. Plus he actually had a soft spot for foals. Twilight's Canterlot friends made it too, including Lyra with Bon Bon

Trixie however couldn't make it, though she was grateful - and even touched - by the invitation (Twilight invited her mostly for Starlight's sake, plus to show that she did forgive Trixie). It's just that Trixie was too far away from Manehattan to be able to arrive on time, much to her regret.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were invited as well, but politely declined because Diamond Tiara didn't want her mom to come (she most likely would have since the Fillyanthropys were one of the most high-class families in Manehattan). And Silver Spoon didn't want to come without Diamond Tiara. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo completely understood.

All the guests who could make it came within the time frame of an hour, the Ponyville and Canterlot residents first.

"Hey everypony, got Scootaloo and Apple Bloom here ready for the party." Rainbow Dash smiled as she went over to Richie, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack. "Sorry Granny Smith and Big Mac couldn't make it though."

"It's okay Rainbow, frankly I think they're grateful they couldn't come." Applejack smiled. "Granny Smith never was into formal events."

"And we all know how shy Big Mac is." Apple Bloom chuckled.

"Hey cuz!" Babs Seed grinned as she rushed over to Apple Bloom.

"Hey yerself!" Apple Bloom grinned back.

"This is gonna be fun, I've never been in Manehattan before." Sweetie Belle smiled.

"Then maybe I can show ya around before the party." Babs Seed offered.

"I can show you around too if you'd like." Twilight smiled to Moondancer.

"I'd like that, I'm especially interested in the museums and libraries." Moondancer smiled back.

"Oh you'll love them, they're amazing. They even rival the ones in Canterlot."

Crystal Quartz and Maud Pie then arrived, with Cadance, Shining Armor, Starlight, and Sunburst arriving after them.

"Excuse me, but can one of you tell me- Oh, Mr. Fillyanthropy there you are." A messenger pony suddenly showed up. "I have a message for you."

"Really?" Richie was surprised, not expecting any messages; even so he took the message and gave the messenger a tip.

"Thank you, have a pleasant day everyone." The messenger pony tipped his hat at the group before leaving.

Richie opened the message and frowned.

"Oh darn." He muttered.

"What's wrong Richie?" Applejack asked.

"Oh there was an incident in the ballroom the celebration was to take place in." Richie explained. "One of the employees accidentally broke the chandelier in the ceiling when trying to replace a bulb and it'll take a few hours to fix it. So our celebration has been moved until later tonight, when it'll be too late for the foals to attend. And I can't move it to tomorrow because they're booked for the day."

"Aw man." Sweetie Belle pouted.

"Bummer. But at least we get more time to have fun in Manehattan." Babs Seed pointed out.

"That's true, but I don't like missing out on the party." Apple Bloom frowned.

"I have an idea." Cookie Crumbles smiled. "Truthfully Hondo and I aren't that comfortable with formal events, so maybe we can foalsit the little ones in the hotel and they can have a sleepover."

"Hey that sounds like way more fun than a formal party." Scootaloo smiled.

"Cool, we never had a sleepover together before." Babs Seed smiled.

"Yeah, it can be a Cutie Mark Crusaders Slumber Party." Apple Bloom smiled.

"I like the sound of that." Sweetie Belle smiled.

"That is a great idea." Richie smiled. "Either way it's a good thing I had already set up a separate party for the orphans, so they won't be disappointed by the change in schedule."

"Really? What kind of party?" Flicker asked.

"A party to help the orphans get a chance to be adopted." Richie explained.

"That is a great idea." Maud Pie said.

"Very good karma." Tree Hugger approved.

Now of course either Discord, Celestia, Luna, Twilight, or Starlight could easily fix the chandelier, but they figured that a slumber party would be more fun for Babs Seed, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and especially Scootaloo than a formal party anyway. Plus they were going to spend the night in Manehattan either way, so having the party at night wasn't a problem.

"I commend you for turning your home into the new orphanage." Luna smiled to Richie. "That is a noble sacrifice."

"Thank you Luna, but it really isn't a sacrifice at all. My home would've felt empty without the extra company." Richie smiled with a small bow.

Even though he knew Luna was a very humble princess he still liked to be formally polite with royalty at times. Not all the time in Luna's case, to respect her humble side, just often enough to show that he's still a gentlecolt despite his hard past.

Everyone then went to the less-expensive hotel everypony was going to stay at - Celestia and Luna of course could afford the most exclusive hotel in Manehattan, but they preferred staying with everyone else - so that the newcomers could get settled in. Afterward they went off into separate groups to explore the city.

Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Hondo Flanks, Cookie Crumbles, and Rainbow Blaze joined the Cutie Mark Crusader's group as Babs gave them a tour. Most other groups comprised of families, with Celestia, Luna, and Flicker and his parents joining Twilight's family and Canterlot friends. Discord of course went with Fluttershy and Tree Hugger. Tree Hugger wasn't fond of being in a city, unsurprisingly, but she put up with it for Fluttershy's sake. Plus she was looking forward to the party due to being fond of those who were generous and kind to foals and animals.


	2. Danger Flares

Later that evening Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles took the Cutie Mark Crusaders back to the hotel so they could have their slumber party. Everyone else either went home or to the hotel as well to get ready for the celebration, and then took taxis to the fancier hotel where the celebration was to take place. Once there they met the other guests, mostly high-class business ponies and the like. Coco Pommel was there too.

They all had fun chatting, eating, and dancing during the night. But then when Pinkie left the ballroom to use the little filly's room she saw other ponies rushing outside the hotel so she went back.

"Hey everyone, something's going on outside." She said.

"What do you mean Pinkamena?" Crystal Quartz asked.

"A bunch of other ponies are rushing outside."

"Gee, I hope it's nothin' bad." Applejack said concernedly.

"Aw it's probably just the arrival of a celebrity." Rainbow Dash said dismissively.

"Either way we'd better double-check just in case somepony needs our help." Twilight said.

"A very good idea." Celestia agreed.

They hurried outside and instantly saw that Rainbow Dash was wrong. Not a single pony was excited or even happy, instead everypony looked worried. They could also hear sirens, making Twilight and her friends and family worried as well.

Twilight went over to one of the few ponies who wasn't rushing down the street/sidewalks, but no one else could hear what they were saying over the noise. Twilight then rushed back to her friends and family eyes wide with fear.

"There's a fire back at the hotel!" She cried.

They all gasped and rushed towards the hotel, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash in front.

As they continued on Scootaloo's parents, having finally arrived, ran over to them.

"What's going on?" Scootaloo's dad asked.

"There's a fire at the hotel we were staying at, and some of our friends are still there." Rainbow Blaze explained.

Scootaloo's parents froze with horror at first since they didn't see Scootaloo with everyone else, but they quickly snapped out of it and ran after Twilight and the others.

Just as Twilight and her friends and family made it to the hotel they saw Hondo Flanks, Cookie Crumbles Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Babs Seed sitting outside by some paramedics. They were covered in ash and either coughing or breathing through oxygen tanks - along with other ponies who had been in the hotel - but otherwise they were fine. There were also fireponies working hard to put out the fire.

"Apple Bloom!" Applejack cried, going over to her sister. "Oh thank heavens...I was so worried." She gently hugged Apple Bloom. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit warm from the fire." Apple Bloom wheezed a bit.

"You okay too Babs Seed?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah." Babs Seed smiled.

Aunt and Uncle Orange went over to her and expressed their relief over her being okay.

Rarity also greeted her family with relief, but Rainbow Dash looked around worriedly.

"Hold on...where's Scootaloo?" She asked.

"Um...gee, I thought she was right behind us." Sweetie Belle said confusedly after looking around.

"Excuse me but did an orange filly with a purple mane leave the hotel with the others?" Luna asked a firepony.

"No your highness...not that I can recall anyway." The firepony shrugged apologetically.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and she looked at the hotel. Suddenly she flew through one of the windows belonging to the floor they were staying on!

"Dashie no!" Rainbow Blaze cried, but it was too late.

He started to fly after her, but Celestia blocked him with a hoof.

"Putting yourself in danger won't help Rainbow Dash or Scootaloo." She said. "Have faith in your daughter, I'm sure she'll be able to escape in time."

Rainbow Blaze reluctantly sat down and watched the building fearfully.

Rainbow Dash flew through the hallway, until she saw a horrible sight: Scootaloo was lying unconscious on the floor with a burning piece of timber pinning her right wing down! Rainbow Dash quickly pushed the timber away and grabbed Scootaloo before flying back towards the window. Fortunately Celestia was right, Rainbow Dash did fly out of the hotel in time.

"Dashie don't you ever do that again." Rainbow Blaze hugged her scoldingly. "I might have lost you."

"Sorry dad but...Scootaloo's like a little sister to me." Rainbow Dash said with tears in her eyes. "I couldn't let her-" She choked.

"I know I know..." Rainbow Blaze said gently. "At least you got out in time...I hope Scootaloo's okay as well."

"Well I can feel her heartbeat so she's still alive, but her wing-" Rainbow Dash looked down and dropped her mouth open. "Oh no..."

Scootaloo's wing was so badly charred that everyone knew it would have to be amputated.

"Oh the poor dear." Coco said.

"I know Scootaloo's parents will be saddened by this, even though they'll also be grateful to you for saving her-" Rainbow Blaze said to Rainbow Dash before looking around. "I wonder where they went. They know about the fire, I told them myself..."

"Gee, I saw them right behind us." Minuette shrugged. "They should've been here by now."

"Excuse me, are you talking about two adult pegasi? Mare and stallion?" An Earth pony approached them.

"Yes, have you seen them?" Twilight asked.

"Uh-huh, they ran into the hotel. I already informed the fireponies and two of them went after them."

"What?" Applejack gasped.

"They must've realized that Scootaloo was still in the hotel and-" Night Light began.

"And they didn't see me go in after her." Rainbow Dash finished.

Two fireponies then came out with Scootaloo's parents on a stretcher, both of them unconscious and looking horrible.

"Excuse me, I'm a friend of their daughter's." Rainbow Dash went over to the fireponies. "What happened to them?"

"They got crushed by a falling beam. Where is their daughter?" A firepony asked.

"I have her here, she fell behind due to a piece of timber pinning her wing down." Rainbow Dash carefully held out Scootaloo. "She's still alive, but I don't think her wing is going to make it."

"Hm...nice rescue work, you didn't even get scratched. Normally we insist on professionals doing that but you did save her without getting hurt so we won't reprimand you this time."

"Better bring her over here, we'll take her and her parents to the hospital." The puller of an ambulance said as the other firepony gently set Scootaloo's parents down on the ambulance.

"Can I come too? She thinks of me as an older sister and...she's like a little sister to me..." Rainbow Dash pleaded.

"Of course. We'll want to do a quick checkup on your lungs anyway." The puller said.

Rainbow Dash gently set Scootaloo on the ambulance and got settled in as well. The ambulance galloped off towards the hospital. Rainbow Blaze flew after them.

"Excuse me, are you Apple Bloom's mother?" A paramedic said to Applejack.

Applejack and Apple Bloom were really saddened by that question.

"Um...no. Actually I'm her big sis, our parents..." Applejack choked.

"Oh...I'm so sorry." The paramedic said apologetically. "Um, we want to take your sister to the hospital to give her lungs a checkup. You're welcome to come with her."

"Of course." Applejack nodded.

Applejack and Apple Bloom got settled on another ambulance that galloped away.

"Would you like to come with your parents and little sister miss...?" The paramedic then said to Rarity.

"Rarity, and yes. In fact I really want to." Rarity said.

Rarity and her family got settled on a third ambulance, Aunt and Uncle Orange joined Babs Seed on a fourth ambulance, and both ambulances galloped away. Twilight and the others just decided to take taxis to the hospital.

Except Discord stayed behind. But that was only to conjure up a giant rain cloud to finish putting out the fire.

"Oh...thank you." One of the fireponies said with surprise.

Even though most of Equestria had learned about Discord reforming some of the ponies were still getting used to the fact that he was good now.

"No problem. I'd better catch up with my friends now." Discord then flew after the others.

Once Twilight and her friends and family arrived quite some time had passed, due to traffic and the fact that ambulances were always given the right of way. So when they reached the lobby they found out that Rainbow Dash's checkup was done and got instructions to where she and her dad were. They followed said instructions to outside an operating room.

"Hi." Rainbow Dash said sadly.

"No word on Scootaloo yet huh?" Flicker said sympathetically.

"Nope."

"We did hear about the others though, and they'll be fine." Rainbow Blaze said. "They just need the oxygen treatment a little longer."

"Thank goodness..." Lemon Hearts wiped her forehead with relief.

"This whole night has been horrible." Maud Pie said.

"Apart from the party of course." Pinkie added, knowing that Maud did enjoy the party but was too upset to say so. "But no party can make up for nearly losing friends."

A doctor then came out.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Rainbow Dash asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine...sort of. I mean she'll definitely survive, but her wing..." The doctor hung her head. "I'm afraid we did need to amputate it. She'll never fly again."

Rainbow Dash teared up.

"What?"

Everyone turned and saw Apple Bloom and Babs Seed coming by with Applejack and Aunt and Uncle Orange. Sweetie Belle and her family weren't far behind.

"We insisted on checking on Scootaloo." Babs Seed explained. "What do you mean she'll never fly again? She doesn't deserve that fate."

"I know, but we had no other choice. Her wing would've never been able to work even if we hadn't amputated it." The doctor said sympathetically. "Hopefully past memories of her flying will-"

"That's the problem doctor, she never flew to began with." Apple Bloom said with tears in her eyes.

"What?" The doctor was surprised.

"She couldn't, I mean she tried but...she could barely get off the ground." Sweetie Belle teared up.

"Oh dear...either a late bloomer or she had a wing disability..." The doctor shook her head. "The poor thing..."

Scootaloo was then wheeled out on a gurney. Most of her body was covered with a sheet, but apart from the oxygen mask she seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

"You can visit her after we get her settled in." The doctor said before leaving. "I'd better prepare to help her cope after she finds out about her wing."

"Um...doctor...can I tell her? I mean we're not related but...I am like a big sister to her so..." Rainbow Dash asked.

"Of course. It would be best for a relative to tell her, biological or not." The doctor nodded. "I'll go prepare some paperwork for you to read about helping a pegasus coping with the loss of a wing. Not that I doubt you'll do a good job on your own, but there are certain delicate details we are strict about covering."

"Of course, thank you doctor." Rainbow Blaze said.

"Geez...after losing her wing I don't know what I'd do if her parents-" Richie choked, not being able to finish.

"Oh gosh, I was so worried about Scootaloo I forgot." Rainbow Dash realized. "We'd better check on them."

"I have the info on where they're being treated." Rainbow Blaze picked up the piece of paper that had been lying next to him.

Using the info they made their way to the outside of another operating room. Unlike Scootaloo's this one was the large kind with a window high above the patient, doctors, and equipment. Scootaloo got a small one since only her wing was badly harmed, but her parents...well...

"There they-" Rarity winced and looked away, not being able to handle the sight of their bodies having been cut open for the operation.

"So far it looks okay...I mean they're still alive." Twilight noticed the monitors were still beeping.

"Oh please make it..." Rainbow Dash whispered. "Scootaloo really needs you guys now..."

Rainbow Blaze comfortingly put a hoof on her shoulder.

Suddenly, the monitors stopped beeping!

"Get the defibrillators!" A doctor ordered.

Another doctor did and the first doctor, apparently the head surgeon, took them.

"Clear!" He said before using the defibrillators on Scootaloo's parents.

Fortunately since the head surgeon was a unicorn he was able to do both of Scootaloo's parents at the same time. Unfortunately, the defibrillators didn't work. Scootaloo's parents were dead.

Rainbow Dash felt as if her world was crumbling, even though it was Scootaloo who had lost her wing and her parents. Then everything went black...


	3. Emotional Pain is Shared

When Rainbow Dash came to, she was lying on a hospital bed with a slight headache. She saw that her friends and dad had surrounded her looking at her concernedly.

"Are you okay Dashie?" Rainbow Blaze asked concernedly. "You took a bit of a fall."

"I think so, though my head hurts a bit." Rainbow Dash sighed. "But that's nothing compared to what Scoot-" She choked, her eyes burning with tears. "It's not fair..." She sobbed.

"Oh good, you're awake." A nurse came in with a drink. "You'd better drink this."

Rainbow Dash obeyed, and tasted something fizzy and sweet but not really soda.

"I heard about the filly you saved and your relationship with her." The nurse said sympathetically. "Losing her parents was quite a shock to you huh?"

"Yeah...almost felt like I had lost my own parents. I mean I didn't know her parents that well, but Scootaloo is so much like a little sister to me that-" Rainbow Dash stopped to grab a tissue and blow her nose.

"I know, it is horrible but there's nothing that can be done except to help poor Scootaloo cope with the loss." The nurse said. "I'll leave you and your friends alone to talk now."

She left the room.

"Say...where is Scootaloo?" Rainbow Dash asked her friends and dad.

"Over there." Twinkleshine pointed to Rainbow Dash's right. "We thought that you'd want to recover in the same room as her."

Rainbow Dash turned and saw Scootaloo still sleeping peacefully with the oxygen mask still on.

"Thanks..." Rainbow Dash sighed. "Hey can someone get me a piece of paper and a quill? I want to write a letter to the Wonderbolts."

"Sure." Twilight took some paper out of her saddlebag, which had been with her during the celebration earlier (she wanted to donate a book to the orphanage and had planned on giving it to Richie during the celebration, but the fire made her forget about it). "But why?"

"I need to let them know that I won't be coming to the Academy or practices for a while, at least not until Scootaloo is well enough to return home." Rainbow Dash explained.

No one said anything, both understanding Rainbow Dash's devotion to her 'little sister' and touched by it.

"Here, I'll deliver it for you." Twilight said after Rainbow Dash finished the letter and put it in an envelope. "Then we'd all better get some sleep, Richie paid for our stay in the Mane Faire Hotel."

"It's the least I can do after all that's happened." Richie sighed, sounding either tired or defeated; probably both given that he was obviously empathizing with Scootaloo's tragedy.

"I'll stay here with my daughter, the doctor already said it was okay." Rainbow Blaze said.

Everyone else nodded understandingly and they all said their goodbyes.

"So I guess we're all staying here longer than we planned." Rainbow Dash figured.

"Yeah, at least most of us. We all want to be here when Scootaloo wakes up." Rainbow Blaze nodded sadly. "Only Princess Celestia, Shining Armor, and Cadance are going to leave in the morning, their courts need them."

"Understandable..." Rainbow Dash decided to get comfy and go to sleep. "Wait, Luna's staying too?"

"Yeah. Actually she couldn't decide at first, since she didn't want to look neglectful of her duties yet was too worried about Scootaloo to want to leave. Princess Celestia reassured her that it was no trouble for her to stay here with us, she knows about her little sister's fondness towards foals."

"Ah. I know Scootaloo will appreciate that. I think she likes Luna even more than Princess Celestia." Rainbow Dash smiled sadly. "Though Luna is a little more into having fun with other ponies, so I'm not surprised." She then yawned.

"Me either, but Twilight's right: it's time we both went to sleep." Rainbow Blaze yawned too.

They did.

The next morning Twilight and most of her friends and family visited Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Blaze, and Scootaloo.

"Hey...where's Sunburst?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Library, he's hoping to find a spell that can restore Scootaloo's wing." Starlight sighed. "But restoring a lost body part is not easy...I don't even know if it's possible."

"As far as I know I'm afraid it isn't, but if anypony can find a spell that'll work Sunburst can." Luna said.

The nurse came in.

"How are you feeling Rainbow Dash?" She asked.

"A lot better, I don't even have a headache anymore." Rainbow Dash smiled slightly before looking at Scootaloo. "Though...my heart still kinda hurts..." She admitted.

The rest of the Mane Six glanced at each other. They knew that Rainbow Dash normally was against looking sappy or sensitive or anything similar, so if Rainbow Dash was actually willing to admit her pain over what happened to Scootaloo then she must really care about her. More than even they thought.

"I'm not surprised." The nurse said sympathetically. "Anyway, I came here to tell you that the doctor wants you to stay here until Scootaloo is ready to go home. You took Scootaloo's tragedy so hard that the doctor is a little concerned about your emotional health, plus he figured that having you here all the time will help Scootaloo recover faster."

"Good, I was going to ask him if I could stay anyway." Rainbow Dash said with relief.

The doctor then came in and checked Scootaloo's breathing, heart rate, etc.

"How is she doc?" Applejack asked.

"Actually doing really good for somepony who had just lost her wing in a fire." The doctor said with relief. "It turns out she didn't hit her head on the floor that hard, plus she didn't suffer that much smoke due to having been low to the floor, so it was possibly the heat that made her unconscious. She may even wake up before the end of tomorrow."

"Thank goodness." Apple Bloom sighed with relief.

The doctor then removed the oxygen tank and took it out of the room. Scootaloo continued sleeping peacefully.

Then the doctor came back in with some papers and headed over to Rainbow Dash.

"How about you? Feeling any better?" He asked.

"A lot better now that I know that Scootaloo will wake up soon." Rainbow Dash said. "But the fact that she lost her wing and her parents still hurts."

"Hmm...and you're not biologically related to her either. I've heard of honorary family relationships, but I never heard of one this strong before." The doctor said. "It sounds like you more than love Scootaloo like a sister. You actually see her as your sister."

Rainbow Dash looked at Scootaloo again and teared up a bit.

"Yeah...I do." She said.

"That's good, she'll need somepony to always be there for her as she recovers. Oh, here is the info I mentioned about helping a pegasus who lost a wing." The doctor smiled as he set the papers on the table by Rainbow Dash's bed. "Anyway, maybe your connection with her will even prevent her from getting long-term depression."

"I hope so." Sweetie Belle sniffled.

"Now, as for you five I think it'd be a good idea to talk to one of our psychologists." The doctor turned to Hondo Flanks, Cookie Crumbles, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Babs Seed. "A fire is a traumatic experience after all."

"I think the doctor is right." Rarity petted Sweetie Belle's mane. "That was a horrible experience last night."

"Um, doc, can I talk to the psychologist too? I'm...still a bit shook up from last night." Applejack said.

"Yes I heard about...I think that's a really good idea." The doctor nodded. "Follow me."

Applejack, Apple Bloom, Babs Seed, and Rarity's family followed the doctor out of the room. Aunt and Uncle Orange, and Rarity, decided to go with them to wait outside the psychologist's office.

"Hey, I know you're really worried about Scootaloo but I brought you some Daring Do books to help pass the time." Twilight smiled sympathetically to Rainbow Dash.

"And I brought your favorite board game if you want to play it." Pinkie smiled.

"Thanks gals, I could use the distraction." Rainbow Dash smiled back.

They all took turns playing the game, and when Rainbow Dash was done playing she turned to the Daring Do books. She also studied the info the doctor brought in.


	4. Scootaloo's Heartbreak

Later the next afternoon, they heard Scootaloo slightly groaning. Rainbow Dash got out of bed and went over to her right side (since her left side had an IV and Rainbow Dash didn't want to risk disturbing it).

"Scootaloo?" She said gently, petting Scootaloo's head. "Hey Little Buddy."

"Hm?" Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes, and then rubbed them before completely opening them. "Rainbow Dash? Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital."

"The hospit- Oh yeah the fire... The fire?" Scootaloo burst upright, now remembering everything that had happened prior to her losing consciousness. "I'm alive? But- Wait, Rainbow Dash you...you saved me didn't you?"

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash smiled, relieved to see that Scootaloo was all right.

"Oh thank you!" Scootaloo hugged her. "You saved my life! You're really my hero now!"

Rainbow Dash gently returned the hug, but started crying.

"Rainbow Dash? What's wrong?" Scootaloo asked.

"I...I'm not a complete hero...I couldn't..." Rainbow Dash choked.

"Couldn't what?" Scootaloo pulled away concernedly.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and tried to calm down a little.

"Scootaloo, I'm afraid there's bad news and there's worse news." She said. "The bad news is...well when I found you a burning piece of timber had pinned your wing to the ground and..." She hesitated.

"Oh so that's what happened. I was trying to use my wings to speed myself up, maybe even fly if I could, when I felt something hit one of my wings. Lost consciousness after that-" Scootaloo's eyes widened with horror. "You mean my wing-?" She turned around, and sure enough only saw the base of her wing bandaged up; the rest of her wing was gone.

"I'm really sorry." Rainbow Dash hung her head.

"Aw man... Well...I was never sure if I was ever going to fly anyway..." Scootaloo tried to shrug it off, but everyone could see that she really was upset by what happened.

"That doesn't change the fact that it shouldn't have happened at all." Rainbow Dash tried not to cry.

"Wait...if losing my wing was the bad news then...then what was the worse news? Or do I even want to know?"

"Well there's no way to avoid finding out...you see your parents arrived in Manehattan around the time we found out about the fire. Dad told them what happened so they followed us, but we were so focused on you that we...we didn't see them run into the hotel..." Rainbow Dash choked again.

Scootaloo paled and widened her eyes with horror.

"No..." She said weakly.

"I'm sorry sis, but...but not even the doctors could save them." Rainbow Dash sobbed. "They're dead."

Scootaloo just sat there unmoving, numb with shock and disbelief. It couldn't be true, her parents couldn't be dead. But Rainbow Dash would never lie about a thing like that to anyone, and Scootaloo had never seen her this upset either. So it had to be true.

Tears entered Scootaloo's eyes as she realized this, and her heart started hurting so much that it melted away her numbness. She finally burst out crying, and Rainbow Dash hugged her so that she ended up crying into her chest.

"I'm sorry Little Buddy...I'm so sorry..." Rainbow Dash sobbed before crying as well.

Everyone else just watched silently, also in tears. Even Discord couldn't hold back his tears.

Scootaloo finally ended up crying herself to sleep. Rainbow Dash hugged her a while longer before gently lying her back down and pulling the covers over her.

The doctor came in a few moments later and saw Rainbow Dash by Scootaloo with tear stains on her face.

"Scootaloo found out?" He guessed sympathetically.

"Yeah. She ended up crying herself to sleep." Spike said quietly, not wanting to disturb Scootaloo's sleep.

"I'm not surprised." The doctor shook his head sadly before turning to Rainbow Blaze. "I've been checking up on Scootaloo's family history, and she has no surviving relatives. Since Scootaloo sees Rainbow Dash as a sister that kinda makes you like her father, so I've been considering arranging for you to have custody of her. Especially since I'm hoping that having a real home would help her recover faster than if she went to the orphanage. Is that okay with you?"

"Hm...frankly I don't know. I mean I do care for Scootaloo but I don't know her that well, especially when compared to how well my daughter knows her." Rainbow Blaze shrugged. "I think it would be best to leave decisions relating to Scootaloo's welfare and future up to my daughter."

"I wouldn't mind. In fact I do want to make sure that she'll recover quickly." Rainbow Dash said. "Not really sure about having custody of her though...I never thought about being a parent or even a guardian before. So I think it'll take me a while to decide."

"In that case I'll phone the orphanage in Ponyville and let the caretaker know to make room for a new foal." The doctor said. "After Scootaloo has healed enough to return home she can stay there until you decide for sure. Might as well make sure that she has a roof over her head either way after all."

"Does this mean she'll be leaving the hospital soon?" Luna asked hopefully.

"Possibly. She's actually pretty much done healing physically and with all of her friends here to help her she may heal emotionally quickly enough to return home soon. I'm not guaranteeing it, but I do like to be optimistic. I have seen a lot of miraculous recoveries in my time after all. However I wouldn't be surprised if it takes at least two weeks for her to be ready to return home." The doctor started to leave. "I'd better arrange some food to bring to her and some ointment for her wing. Even if she may not have an appetite for a while she still will have to keep her strength up. Let me know when she wakes up again."

"Will do." Twilight nodded.

A few hours later Scootaloo woke up, done crying for the moment but far from done being sad. Twilight contacted the doctor who brought in some soup and a drink on a tray, and some ointment and a bandage roll. The doctor set the tray on the table by Scootaloo's bed.

"Bend forward please Scootaloo, I want to check on your wing." The doctor said.

Scootaloo obeyed, and the doctor removed the bandages. Rainbow Dash cringed at the scar left over from the amputation, even though it was healing nicely.

"Good...no sign of an infection. I'd still better spread a little ointment on just to be safe." The doctor did before doing so.

Scootaloo winced a bit at the leftover pain. The doctor then re-bandaged her wing with the bandage roll.

"There we go. Now I have a feeling that you don't have an appetite right now but it is important that you keep your strength up." The doctor gently set the tray down in front of her. "So I only brought a small meal for a start. I'll bring you a larger meal after your appetite comes back."

"Thanks..." Scootaloo muttered.

"I know, I'm really sorry about your parents. Believe me, the surgeons did everything possible to try to save them. But I'm afraid the beam did a number on their organs, there was nothing anypony could do." The doctor sympathetically put a hoof around Scootaloo's back.

Scootaloo sniffled and wiped an eye.

"Come on kiddo, I'm sure your parents wouldn't want you to give up. Especially since they were willing to sacrifice their lives just to make sure that you wouldn't die." Rainbow Dash said gently before stirring the soup to cool it down and picking up the spoon.

"Yeah, at least you know they love you more than their own lives." Richie smiled sadly.

Scootaloo couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"That fact does feel good...even though I'm kinda wishing they hadn't loved me that much." She admitted; she then swallowed the bit of soup Rainbow Dash gave her. "Hm...that's actually kinda good..."

She took the spoon from Rainbow Dash and started eating on her own.

"I also wish I hadn't lost my wing as well. At least if I was somehow able to fly in the future I could make my parents proud of me." She sighed between swallows. "Although I'd sacrifice my other wing and even a leg just to bring them back..."

"I'm sorry, but even I can't go that far with my magic." Discord shook his head. "Bringing back the dead is out of anyone's realm of power. I can't even bring back the dead as zombies...that's too much chaos even for me."

"Seriously?" Starlight was surprised.

"Um, didn't you switch Big Mac and Winona's minds back when you were our enemy?" Applejack pointed out. "That also was very chaotic."

"That explains why he licked me..." Twilight muttered.

"Yeah, but that was different." Discord said to Applejack. "That was amusing chaos, conjuring up zombies is just creepy chaos. I prefer my chaos to be entertaining, as in comedy. Especially crazy comedy. Zombies are more horror than anything else."

"Ugh, I'm with you on that one." Spike winced. "Zombies are one of my least-favorite fiction creatures."

"At least you finally admit that they're fiction." Twilight teased.

"Ha ha." Spike smirked back.

Scootaloo actually chuckled a bit, but then went back to being sad.

"Hey, don't sweat your missing wing Scoots." Babs Seed smiled. "Ya didn't need to fly to be awesome anyway."

"Yeah, you're more than awesome on your scooter." Apple Bloom agreed.

"You're the best scooter-rider ever." Sweetie Belle declared.

"Heh, thanks girls." Scootaloo smiled before sighing. "But that doesn't change the fact that I still want to fly."

"Well there are other ways to fly. I mean what about balloons?" Pinkie pointed out.

"Pinkie actually has a point." Twilight said. "I know losing a wing is tragic for a pegasus, but wings aren't the only way to fly."

"This is true. Maybe I can arrange for a special mode of transportation for you after we head back to Ponyville." Luna offered. "Maybe your own miniature hot air balloon?"

"Thanks Luna, but I'll pass for now." Scootaloo smiled a little less sadly this time. "I'm very used to staying on the ground, so I don't mind waiting. Oh...what's...going to happen to my parents'...?"

"The doctors had them frozen so that they could be buried in Ponyville. That way you don't have to travel to Manehattan to visit them." Twilight explained.

"Oh good..." Scootaloo said with relief. "They're already too far away from me as it is, being...you know...and all..."

"Ya know Sugar Cube, your parents aren't as far away from ya as you think." Applejack smiled. "They're always in yer heart right?"

"Well..." Scootaloo smiled a little more. "Yeah...they are."

"And as long as they're in your heart they'll always be with you." Richie smiled.

"I guess so...I'm still sad about what happened though." Scootaloo's smile faded.

"No one's asking you to stop being sad, you just shouldn't get depressed over it." Fluttershy smiled comfortingly, going over to pet Scootaloo's mane. "Especially since you're not alone, we'll always be here for you."

Scootaloo hugged her a little.

"Thanks Fluttershy." She said.

"I'll especially always be there for ya squirt." Rainbow Dash grinned.

Scootaloo turned and grinned back

Later that evening, Sunburst finally arrived.

"Goodness, you look awful." Rarity said sympathetically.

"Was...was up...trying to..." Sunburst yawned. "Ugh, sorry. I was up for hours trying to find a spell that could restore Scootaloo's wing. No luck."

"At least you tried." Starlight hugged him. "But now it looks like you need some medical attention."

"Nah, just sleep. I just dropped by to see how Scootaloo's doing." Sunburst struggled to keep his eyes awake.

"You go back to the hotel and get some sleep then, 'cause I'm doing much better." Scootaloo said. "At least physically anyway, I doubt I'll ever get over my parents'..."

"I wouldn't be surprised...I still haven't gotten over mine." Applejack admitted.

"Same here." Apple Bloom agreed.

"Ditto." Richie nodded.

"Okay..." Sunburst yawned again.

"I'd better go with you to make sure you don't bang into any lampposts or anything." Starlight teased good-naturedly.

"Ha ha..." Sunburst smiled tiredly.

"I'll see you guys later." Starlight said as she helped Sunburst leave the room.

"Oh we'll catch up with you in a moment, first we want to see if there's anything we can do for Scootaloo before we leave." Twilight replied.

"Not that I can think of." Scootaloo shrugged. "Though...I kinda would like Rainbow Dash to stay here with me."

"No problem with that. The truth is I took your parents' deaths pretty hard, so the doctor wants me to stay with you to make sure I'll be okay too. Plus he figured that having me here will help you recover faster." Rainbow Dash smiled.

"In that case we'll see you two tomorrow." Luna smiled.

The others said their goodbyes, and everypony except for Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Blaze left the room.

"Um, dad, I don't think the doctor will let you stay here much longer." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"I know, I just wanted to see if I could join you two for dinner before leaving." Rainbow Blaze smiled.

"Ah."

The doctor soon arrived to see what Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash wanted to eat, and he agreed to letting Rainbow Blaze stay for dinner. But no longer than that, so after dinner Rainbow Blaze said his goodbye and left.

"Would you like me to read to you before bed?" Rainbow Dash offered. "Twilight brought over some Daring Do books and left them here...didn't ask but I think she bought them at a bookstore since the ones I brought were destroyed in the fire.

"Sure. And it's too bad that happened." Scootaloo said.

"It's okay, none of them were autographed. Thank goodness I left that one autographed copy back home." Rainbow Dash shrugged as she went over to the books.

"Yeah, it's still awesome that you got to meet the real Daring Do." Scootaloo grinned. "Though I'm surprised that you were able to tell her about me considering she writes her books under a different name."

"Asked her permission first and she said only family members for now." Rainbow Dash smiled.

"Oh..." Scootaloo was really touched by the honor.

She then selected which story she wanted to hear, and Rainbow Dash brought it over and read it to her. After she was done Scootaloo wasn't that sleepy, so Rainbow Dash agreed to read one more story before bed. This time Scootaloo fell asleep near the end of the story, so Rainbow Dash tucked her in before heading to bed as well.


	5. Things Are a Bit Better For the Presents

A couple days later not everyone visited Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. This time only Rainbow Blaze, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Babs Seed did. This was because everyone else figured that having a fun time with just her best friends and sister-figure, with Rainbow Blaze supervising, would help Scootaloo recover more. Plus after the first two hectic days they wanted to do a bit of relaxing in Manehattan and shop for get-well presents for Scootaloo.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Babs Seed of course also wanted to get Scootaloo presents, and they already did. Each one did a drawing of all four of them having fun in various ways. Apple Bloom's drawing showed them baking, Sweetie Belle's drawing showed them performing as a pop group, and Babs Seed's drawing showed them roller skating in cool outfits.

Rainbow Blaze wanted to get Scootaloo a present as well, but he decided to wait until someone else could take over supervising the fillies. And that somepony turned out to be Luna.

"You go on to lunch Mr. Blaze, I'll take over." Luna smiled as she just entered the room.

"Thank you, but don't you want something to eat?" Rainbow Blaze asked.

"No thank you, I ate before coming here." Luna explained.

"Oh. I'll see you girls later then." Rainbow Blaze started to leave.

"Okay, see ya dad." Rainbow Dash waved.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders said their byes too.

"Hey, didn't you get Scootaloo's present?" Sweetie Belle asked, noticing that Luna didn't have a package with her.

"I did, but I had it mailed to Ponyville. I want it to be a surprise for after Scootaloo is settled in back home." Luna smiled.

"Oh."

"Gosh, another present for me- Wait a minute, is this why most of the others haven't visited me today?" Scootaloo smirked.

"You guessed correctly." Luna chuckled.

"Aw, you guys didn't have to do that."

"Well we all wanted to cheer you up." Sweetie Belle smiled.

"Yeah, plus they're trying to get you fun presents to help entertain you while you're stuck here." Apple Bloom explained. "Not even the doctor is entirely sure how long you'll be staying here, even though he wanted to be optimistic he also said not to be surprised if it took at least two weeks."

"Really? But I'm okay physically apart from missing a wing." Scootaloo said with confusion.

"We know, but...it's your emotional health we're all concerned about." Rainbow Dash admitted. "After all nopony would easily get over what you went through, not even me. Not just losing my wing either...if I every lost my dad...I don't even know what happened to my mom..." She looked really sad.

"Really?" Babs Seed said gently. "I just figured that she was busy like Scootaloo's parents were."

"Nope, never even knew her. Dad won't even talk about her, though he did look sad whenever I used to bring her up. Figured she died when I was a baby and dad's still hurting from it." Rainbow Dash shrugged.

There was a short sad silence at that.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Luna said.

The doctor entered.

"Well this is a big surprise but...Soarin from the Wonderbolts is here to see Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash." He said, stunned.

Rainbow Dash dropped her mouth open.

"What?" Scootaloo was very surprised indeed.

"Whoa, an actual Wonderbolt here? That's so awesome!" Babs Seed beamed.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle also beamed in agreement.

"Hey there." Soarin smiled as he walked in, wearing his suit instead of his uniform.

"Wha- Soarin, why-? I mean doesn't the Academy need you?" Rainbow Dash almost stuttered.

"Not really, Spitfire does most of the work at the Academy." Soarin chuckled. "Glad to see you're okay Scootaloo, I was really worried when I heard about the fire."

"You were worried about me?" Scootaloo was surprised.

"Of course, Rainbow Dash talks about you all the time. Actually been wanting to meet you, any filly that's awesome in Rainbow Dash's book is awesome in my book too."

Scootaloo blushed at the compliment.

"Glad you're okay too Rainbow Dash, awesome or not you were still lucky to escape the fire unharmed." Soarin looked a bit concerned. "Really cool of you to risk your life for another though, not everypony would do that. Though I hope you don't do it too often, Equestria can't afford to lose a wonderful flier like you."

"Heh, yeah..." Rainbow Dash blushed, rubbing the back of her head.

"Welcome Soarin, it is always nice to see a celebrity take time off to visit a patient." Luna smiled.

"Oh hi Luna." Soarin waved a bit. "Yeah luckily Spitfire completely understood my wanting to come. Actually I think she wanted to visit as well, at least she was worried too, but there was no way she could. Although she was able to put together a little gift for Scootaloo."

"Okay, this is kinda getting embarrassing." Scootaloo chuckled good-naturedly. "I mean what next, a huge 'get well soon' party from Pinkie Pie? Oh...right." Scootaloo then facehoofed. "Knowing her, of course there'll be one."

"Actually there won't, Twilight got Pinkie to understand that you don't want that kind of attention towards your wing." Rainbow Dash reassured her.

"Thank goodness..." Scootaloo said with relief.

"Here you go kiddo." Soarin then took a package out of his saddlebag and set it down in front of Scootaloo.

"Thanks." Scootaloo smiled before opening it. "Wow!"

It was an autographed photo of Spitfire, Soarin, Misty Fly, and Fleetfoot with the sentence 'To Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash's awesome little sister. Get well soon'.

"We know you're not Rainbow Dash's biological sister, but the way she talks about you you might as well be." Soarin grinned.

"This is really cool of you Soarin." Rainbow Dash smiled. "Thanks."

"Hey, no problem. Say...where is everyone?" Soarin finally realized that most of Rainbow Dash's friends were missing (and remembering at least Spike to be one of them, since Rainbow Dash mentioned him to the Wonderbolts before).

"Out sightseeing and shopping for get-well presents for Scootaloo." Luna explained. "I already got mine."

"What about you Rainbow Dash?" Soarin asked curiously.

"Oh...um...I kinda don't want to leave Scootaloo so..." Rainbow Dash hesitated.

"Oh I'm fine, but you should get some fresh air." Scootaloo waved a hoof dismissively.

"I agree, how about we go stretch our wings for a bit and you look for a present for her?" Soarin offered.

"Um..." Rainbow Dash hesitated.

"I'll keep an eye on Scootaloo for you." Luna said as if that settled the matter.

"Well...okay then. Be back soon Little Buddy."

"See ya later." Scootaloo smiled.

Rainbow Dash and Soarin left the room, and after telling one of the nurses behind the desk where they were going they left the hospital.

The walk was a bit awkward at first, since Rainbow Dash wasn't used to communicating with the Wonderbolts when there wasn't training or a performance going on. The fact that this particular Wonderbolt was Soarin made it even tougher, because she always had a crush on him. A crush that became stronger after getting to know him more.

"So, what do you think I should get Scootaloo?" Soarin finally broke the silence.

"'You should get her'? What about that autographed photo?" Rainbow Dash pointed out with confusion.

"Nah, that technically was from Spitfire since it was her idea. I want to get Scootaloo something solely from me, but since I don't know her that well I don't know what to get her."

"Oh. Gotta admit I'm both touched and surprised that you care enough about Scootaloo to want to do that."

"Well...truthfully it's mostly because you obviously care a lot about her." Soarin actually blushed, much to Rainbow Dash's confusion. "I mean...forget it."

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It's nothing."

"Look, whatever it is you can tell me. I won't tell Spitfire if that's what's worrying you." Rainbow Dash stopped walking, becoming a bit concerned since she never knew a Wonderbolt to be nervous about something.

"Nah, actually she already knows. She always was kinda like a sister to me." Soarin shrugged.

"Ah, so you know how I feel about Scootaloo." Rainbow Dash guessed.

"Well that's part of it..." Soarin sighed. "But it's really because...I-I...really like you and...and I want to be a good friend to those who are important in your life...especially those you consider to be family..." He blushed again.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and her heart started pounding.

"Y-you do?" She asked, trying her best not to fangirl on him.

"Well yeah...I have for a long time now actually." Soarin started to feel a bit braver after hearing her hopeful tone.

"I-I've had a crush on you for a long time as well. Longer...actually...I mean I knew about you long before you heard of me so..." Rainbow Dash then chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah."

Soarin beamed at her, but then looked awkward.

"Um, I know this isn't really the best time to ask but..." Soarin blushed as his heart pounded. "After Scootaloo has completely recovered will...will you go out with me?"

Rainbow Dash repeatedly and rapidly said ohmigosh in her mind.

"I-" Rainbow Dash started to say, but the words caught in her throat.

She couldn't believe it, it really was happening, Soarin really did like her and wanted to go out with her. And she really wanted to go out with him, so she swallowed the words back down so that she could tell him.

"O-once Scootaloo's settled in back in Ponyville...I'd love to." She said.

Soarin beamed again.

There was then another awkward pause since neither Soarin nor Rainbow Dash believed that this moment would come. They weren't sure what to do next, though Rainbow Dash did know that she shouldn't lose her cool. She didn't want to freak him out by acting all 'Pinkie Pie' on him again...thank goodness the Wonderbolts forgave her for that bit of weirdness after finding out why she imitated her friends in the first place.

"Um..." Rainbow Dash finally spoke up. "We'd better select our presents and head back before nightfall." She tried to lessen the awkwardness with a joke.

"Yeah, good point." Soarin chuckled back.

They continued on to the shops, and once they reached them they did some window-shopping first. One of the shops they walked by was a sports shop.

"Hang on, I think here would be a good place to look. Scootaloo loves sports." Rainbow Dash smiled.

"Okay." Soarin agreed.

They went inside and looked around. Since Soarin wasn't sure what Scootaloo would like most he just followed Rainbow Dash.

Then they reached the bikes and other kid vehicles, and something caught Rainbow Dash's eye.

About a couple hours later, Rainbow Dash and Soarin headed back to the hospital with their presents and Get Well Cards for Scootaloo. The others had already returned with their presents and Get Well Cards by this point, most of the presents being small so has not to overwhelm Scootaloo. Even Pinkie restrained herself on getting anything big, which wasn't easy for her (Crystal Quartz and Maud Pie helped her though).

Rainbow Dash and Soarin first gave Scootaloo their Get Well Cards before giving her their presents.

"Here ya go kiddo." Soarin smiled, setting a box of simple chocolates on her lap. "Sorry about the gift being generic, but I thought some chocolate would do you good."

"Thank you." Scootaloo smiled. "It's okay, we hardly know each other so I didn't expect you to get me anything along with a card. This is better, after all you can't eat a card."

Soarin chuckled and ruffled Scootaloo's mane.

"So, we visited a sport shop at one point and I spotted a scooter I think you'll really love." Rainbow Dash grinned, showing Scootaloo a scooter covered with a sheet. "I know you already have one, but this one is so awesome I'm sure it was made for you."

A.N. Scootaloo's scooter was back in Ponyvile, her parents refused to let her take it with her since Manehattan's streets were often very busy.

"Really?" Scootaloo smiled.

Rainbow Dash pulled off the sheet, and everyone gasped. The scooter was rainbow colored! Not only that but it even had a matching helmet, with SCOOTALOO printed on it with stickers in alternating colors (so that purple was on red, red was on orange, etc). However it wasn't likely that the sports shop put names on their helmet - since there were so many unique names in Equestria - so everyone was sure that Rainbow Dash put the stickers on instead.

"Oh my gosh!" Scootaloo squealed before hugging Rainbow Dash. "Oh thank you sis, this is the coolest scooter I've ever seen!"

"I'm not surprised, it's almost as cool as you." Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Hey, now I can make rainbow trails like you." Scootaloo grinned back.

"Yeah, as long as you're careful. Riding a scooter on the ground is more dangerous than flying in the air since there are more obstacles to worry about."

"No problem, I'll stick to going that fast in open fields."

"With supervision. I want to watch you in action anyway."

"You got it. I can't wait until we get back to Ponyville so that I can try it out."


	6. Heading Home - Sort Of

It turns out that day was tomorrow, at least according to the doctor who came in around an hour later.

"I know I wanted Scootaloo to stay until we were sure her mental health was okay, but she seems to have recovered quickly so I believe she's ready. However I still recommend that she talks to a psychologist in Ponyville for a while just to make sure." The doctor said.

"Of course." Rainbow Dash agreed.

"Well, if I gotta." Scootaloo sighed. "Sounds kinda boring though."

"It usually isn't, I've read books on therapy and you can talk to psychologists about anything." Twilight smiled. "So you don't have to stick with the serious topics, you can also talk to the psychologist about Rainbow Dash and the stunts you perform with your scooter."

"Really? That sounds a lot better." Scootaloo smiled.

So almost everyone headed back to the hotel to check out. Richie, Herbert, and Diane stayed behind to keep Scootaloo company and help her pack up her cards and presents. Including the scooter, Scootaloo wanted to ride it on the way to the train station but the doctor said it'd be better for her to walk there for the exercise.

"So...Dashie...have you decided what to do with Scootaloo?" Rainbow Blaze asked as they left the hotel.

"Not yet. I mean I would love for her to join the family, but I dunno whether I'll be able to take care of her or not." Rainbow Dash sighed. "And even if I decide to adopt her, would I be adopting her as a sister or as a mother? Even though I see her as my sister I wouldn't mind her being my daughter instead, but I don't want to make it look as if I'm replacing her real mother."

"If you do decide to adopt her then you can just ask her about that." Soarin suggested. "If she'd prefer only having one mother then you can just adopt her as a sister."

"Hm...I guess you're right. But either way what if I mess it up and only make things worse for her?"

"I doubt you will."

Rainbow Dash, Rainbow Blaze, and Soarin turned around and saw Twilight standing there.

"If you truly love someone then you can never make things worse for them." Twilight continued. "But even so it wouldn't hurt to do some research first. I'm sure there's plenty of books on adopting and foal-rearing in the Canterlot library."

"Say, that's not a bad idea." Rainbow Dash said before chuckling: "Whoa, I'm actually agreeing to the idea of research. I must care about Scootaloo even more than I thought."

Rainbow Blaze, Soarin, and Twilight chuckled as well.

After everyone was ready to go most of Twilight's friends - plus Richie - got on the train for Ponyville while the rest headed for Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, etc. Scootaloo's parents' bodies however had been picked up by Celestia's pegasi guards to help avoid a luggage mix-up (which sometimes happens).

"So...I guess I'm going to the orphanage huh?" Scootaloo said sadly.

"Only temporarily, until you get adopted." Rainbow Blaze reassured her.

"I hope it's soon, nopony could replace my parents but it'd be nice to have a real home again."

Rainbow Dash just looked out the window, still thinking about whether to adopt Scootaloo or not.

After the stop in Ponyville was reached Twilight and her friends saw Mayor Mare sadly approaching them.

"Princess Celestia sent word of what happened to Scootaloo and her parents." She explained. "I've already made the funeral arrangements, and the orphanage is ready for Scootaloo. She just needs to collect her things from her old home."

"Thank you Mayor Mare." Twilight said gratefully, honestly glad that she didn't have to deal with the funeral arrangements (who would want to deal with that sort of thing?).

Rainbow Blaze, Rainbow Dash, Mayor Mare, and Twilight escorted Scootaloo to her old home so that she could collect her things. The others headed home, not wanting to overcrowd Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom wanted to go with Scootaloo, but their sisters reassured them that they could visit Scootaloo later. Besides, Richie still had to officially meet Big Mac (that one time they saw each other didn't count) and Granny Smith.

"What about my parents' things?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well the furniture will have to be sold, but any personal items like photo albums you may keep in the orphanage's storage room." Mayor Mare explained. "Unopened food will be donated to the orphanage's kitchen, and you may finish any opened food you want. The rest will be thrown out."

"Oh." Scootaloo said with relief.

Scootaloo's things and her parents' personal things were packed up, and the unopened food was boxed up as well. Scootaloo decided to have a small snack of the opened foods she liked and allowed the rest of the food to be tossed.

Officials soon came by to pick up the furniture. Apart from Scootaloo's bed that is, since that had already been delivered to the orphanage. To save money and help orphans settle in the orphanage always took the orphan's old bed instead of buying a new one, though not the orphan's dressers and desks and such since there wasn't room for a lot of those.

After everything was packed or taken away Scootaloo was escorted to the orphanage.

"Hello Scootaloo." The head caretaker said. "I know this place is no substitute for a real home, but we'll do your best to help you feel comfortable here."

"Thank you ma'am." Scootaloo said quietly.

"Scootaloo?"

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, who had been nearby, hurried over looking worried.

"Oh my gosh what-" Silver Spoon said, upset. "Scootaloo did-did something happen to-?"

"Yeah." Scootaloo nodded. "There...was a fire in the hotel we were staying at and..."

"We're so sorry." Diamond Tiara said. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Nah, it's okay. But thanks anyway." Scootaloo smiled slightly, grateful for their compassion despite still being sad.

"Say that reminds me...what caused the fire in the first place?" Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight.

"I talked to the fireponies when we were out buying gifts for Scootaloo, and apparently it was an accident. Some explosion or something, they haven't figured out all the details yet." Twilight explained.

"Good thing it wasn't set on purpose or else I'd really tell off whoever caused it." Rainbow Dash frowned. "At least."

"I'm with you, fire is one of the many things that no one should mess with. Even Spike has to be careful with his fire despite being fireproof."

"Hold on...what are you two doing around here anyway?" Scootaloo turned back to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, tilting her head with confusion.

"We were donating some toys to the orphanage." Diamond Tiara smiled.

"Yeah, figured we might as well put our allowances to good use." Silver Spoon nodded.

"Gee, that's really neat of ya." Scootaloo smiled.

"I agree, that was a wonderful thing to do." Twilight smiled approvingly.

"I know, dad already expressed his pride over our decision." Diamond Tiara chuckled.

"Same with my parents." Silver Spoon added.

"What about your mom?" Scootaloo asked Diamond Tiara.

"Eh, she wasn't so happy about the idea but dad's approval kept her from expressing her dislike about it." Diamond Tiara smirked. "Not that there was much she could've done anyway, she's become less controlling since I stood up to her."

"You know, your dad really should consider leaving her." Rainbow Dash frowned. "She never deserved to be a mother."

"I know, but despite how she used to treat me dad still loves her." Diamond Tiara shrugged. "And I don't want to make dad unhappy."

The others decided not to argue with that.

"Well, I'd like to chat with you two more but I need to get settled in." Scootaloo said.

"Okay-"

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's eyes widened with shock, because Scootaloo had just turned around to pick up one of her bags, allowing them to see her wing. Or almost-lack-of-a-wing for that matter.

"Oh my-" Silver Spoon put a hoof to her mouth.

"Scootaloo, were...were you in the fire too?" Diamond Tiara gasped.

"Huh? Oh yeah, that's how my parents died. They realized I was still in the hotel and were trying to save me. Rainbow Dash fortunately did, but we didn't know about my parents until it was too late." Scootaloo shrugged. "Unfortunately this means that I'll definitely never fly, but I'd rather have my parents back anyway."

"I don't blame you." Silver Spoon said sympathetically.

"At least you didn't...you know." Diamond Tiara said awkwardly.

"Yeah, I am grateful for that." Scootaloo smiled at Rainbow Dash, who smiled back and ruffled her mane. "Well, I'll talk to you two later."

"No prob...we need to do something anyway." Diamond Tiara smiled.

Scootaloo smiled back and followed the caretaker inside with her stuff. Twilight decided to talk to Mayor Mare more about the funeral, Rainbow Dash decided to fly to the Canterlot Library, and Rainbow Blaze decided to head home for now.

"Um, what do we need to do?" Silver Spoon asked as they walked away.

"Help Scootaloo with the no-flying problem. I want to talk to my dad about it first though." Diamond Tiara explained.

"I dunno, I doubt we'd be able to buy her a new pair of wings or anything. And what if she takes our help the wrong way?" Silver Spoon pointed out.

"With the way I have it planned I don't think she will. But even so that's why I want to talk to my dad first, I want to make sure I'm planning it right. Besides, I still owe the Crusaders. If it hadn't been for them I'd be friendless and completely hated by now."

"Yeah...since they helped restore our friendship I kinda owe them too." Silver Spoon agreed. "I wonder how we should repay Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle?"

"Well with Apple Bloom I was thinking of helping with the next Zap Apple Harvest, as a sort of apology for having made fun of Granny Smith. Not sure about Sweetie Belle yet though."

Meanwhile, Scootaloo set her things around one of the orphanage rooms so that they wouldn't get in the way of the other orphans' things.

"I know you, you're Rainbow Dash's little sister. How come you're not living with her?" One of the other orphans asked.

"Cause we're not actually related, we just love each other like sisters." Scootaloo smiled before looking a bit sad. "Which is still awesome, but right now I really wish we were related-"

Scootaloo noticed a box covered in star-and-moon printed wrapping paper on the dresser by her bed.

"What's that?" She asked.

"A present for you, from Luna no less." Another orphan grinned. "You can't imagine how impatient we've been getting waiting for you to get here."

"I kinda can, I've been wondering what it was myself." Scootaloo chuckled before opening it.

Inside the box was a multi-photo frame, filled with photos of the Crusaders and their families, plus the Mane Seven and their families. Along with the photos was a letter, which caused Scootaloo to smile as she read it.

"What does it say?" A third orphan asked.

"Basically it says that I'm not really an orphan since I still have a family in my friends and Rainbow Dash and her friends, plus their families." Scootaloo smiled. "Thank you Luna...still miss my parents though, but I do know that they're always with me in here." She put a hoof to her heart. "And I still wish I could fly someday."

"Well maybe Twilight Sparkle and her friends will think of something." The first orphan said reassuringly.

"They kinda did...a hot air balloon. Not the same though." Scootaloo shrugged.

Despite not being pegasi the other three orphans had to agree.

As for Richie officially meeting Big Mac and Granny Smith, here's how it went:

Applejack had already written to Big Mac and Granny Smith about the whole truth behind Richie's past and how his uncle was defeated, so Richie was warmly welcomed inside the Apple home.

"Really glad ta hear that ya got yer uncle varmint locked up." Granny Smith said.

"Oh it was Twilight who did that, I'm just glad that I'm now able to help other ponies." Richie smiled.

"Including orphans." Apple Bloom smiled.

"Eeyup." Big Mac agreed.

"Say, uh, there was an extra reason why I wanted Richie to officially meet all of you." Applejack said. "Besides being friends with Aunt and Uncle Orange I mean."

"Oh? What's that?" Granny Smith asked.

"Applejack and I...well, we've fallen in love." Richie smiled at Applejack.

"We're dating now." Applejack confirmed, smiling at Richie.

"Well good for ya both! It's about time ya found yer very special somepony Applejack." Granny Smith smiled.

"All right, I'm gonna get another big brother!" Apple Bloom bounced before realizing something. "Hey, how come you didn't tell me while I was in Manehattan?"

"I wanted to tell both of my siblings and Granny Smith at the same time." Applejack smiled.

"Oh. Okay then."

Big Mac however looked solemn.

"Something wrong Big Mac?" Applejack asked concernedly.

"Nope...not really, I mean, it's just...it's kinda hard to see you all grown up." Big Mac admitted.

"I understand, I feel the same way about Apple Bloom." Applejack smiled.

"I know." Big Mac smiled. "Well AJ, since you have good judgement when it comes to other ponies I trust Richie. However, if you ever hurt my sister then you'll regret it." Big Mac then frowned warningly at Richie.

"You don't have to worry, I could never hurt Applejack because it would hurt me as well." Richie said sincerely.

Big Mac smiled approvingly.


	7. Research and Discussion

Now back in Canterlot, the Canterlot Library specifically:

"Excuse me, where are the books on foal rearing?" Rainbow Dash quietly asked the librarian.

After receiving instructions, Rainbow Dash hurried over there as fast as allowed. She selected a few books and glanced through them. The adopting part didn't look too bad, after all she already knew Scootaloo really well so it would be easy to get some of her likes and dislikes - like food - quickly taken cared of.

Certain things though, like discipline, she was hesitant about. She never had to punish a foal before, so she wasn't sure whether she'd be able to do it without looking like an over-controlling relative. Plus there was the fact that she wasn't very good at disciplining **herself** , at least not without slapping herself across the face...

However Scootaloo was pretty much already well-behaved...Rainbow Dash didn't know too much about her study habits, but Scootaloo did already learn the basics behavior-wise thanks to her real parents. Maybe Rainbow Dash could pull it off...

She couldn't think too much about it the next day though, since she had to report to Wonderbolts Academy.

"Hey Dash." Soarin smiled. "So are you up for dinner tonight, or would you rather wait a bit longer?"

"Oh dinner tonight is fine, but we probably should let Spitfire know first." Rainbow Dash smiled back. "I mean I don't think she'd be happy if she found out from another source."

"Yeah, you're right. We should reassure her that we won't let our relationship interfere with our duties anyway." Soarin agreed.

So they headed to Spitfire's office and knocked.

"Come on in." Spitfire said.

Soarin and Rainbow Dash walked inside.

"You two at the same time? Is there something important you want to tell me?" Spitfire asked.

"Yes ma'am." Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Is it about Scootaloo? How is she doing?"

"She's doing fine, considering, but no we're here about something else."

"We just thought you'd like to know that...well, we're going out tonight." Soarin blushed a bit.

Spitfire raised an eyebrow.

"Hold on, you mean like on a date?" She said.

"Yes ma'am." Soarin said.

Spitfire smiled.

"Well it's about time you told Rainbow Dash how you felt, I was wondering how long it was going to take." She said. "Heh, Fleetfoot's gonna get a nasty shock, she bet that it would take you at least a year before you told Rainbow Dash how you felt. Misty Fly however bet it was going to take only a month or two. I stayed out of the betting myself, not only wouldn't it have been professional but I know that these things can be unpredictable."

"They all...knew?" Soarin blushed even more, and Rainbow Dash blushed a bit as well.

"Yeah, either they figured it out on their own or Fleetfoot eavesdropped on us back when you asked me for advice about it. Not sure which one, but it wouldn't be the first time Fleetfoot eavesdropped on one of us so I'm kinda sure it was that."

"You asked Spitfire for advice? She really is like your sister huh?" Rainbow Dash said to Soarin.

"Yeah." Soarin smiled.

"And you are my goof of a brother." Spitfire smirked.

"Ha ha." Soarin smirked back.

Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Anyway, thank you for telling me now. And I trust that your relationship won't interfere with your duties?" Spitfire said warningly.

"Yes ma'am!" Rainbow Dash and Soarin saluted.

"Good. At ease then, and go get ready for training new recruits. Also I'd like a report on tonight's date tomorrow Soarin. It doesn't have to be detailed, I just want to make sure it went well. Don't want either of you hurt after all."

"You got it ma'am." Soarin smiled.

Soarin and Rainbow Dash then left and headed for the locker rooms.

"So any thoughts on whether you're gonna adopt Scootaloo or not?" Soarin asked. "I know it really isn't my business, but I really think you two belong together as a family."

"Actually since you care about us it is your business in a way." Rainbow Dash smiled before looking solemn. "And not much thought, I mean I did do some research and I might be able to handle taking care of a foal - especially a foal as awesome as Scootaloo - but I'm still not sure whether she'd want me to be sister or a mom if I adopted her. So I think I will ask her what she wants like you suggested."

"Careful, you don't want to get her hopes up in case you decide not to adopt her after all." Soarin warned.

"I know, don't worry I'll be clear that I haven't officially decided yet. And either way I'm sure she'll be touched by the fact that I took her feelings into consideration."

"I'll agree with that."

They then ran into Fleetfoot and Misty Fly.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, how's the kid?" Misty Fly asked.

"Actually not too bad. I mean she still misses her parents and I'm sure she's still sad about her wing, but other than that she's actually handling things pretty well." Rainbow Dash smiled.

"I'm sure you had a lot to do with it." Soarin smiled. "Oh, and Fleetfoot you owe Misty Fly some bits. Dash and I are going out to dinner tonight."

Soarin and Rainbow Dash then left a shocked Fleetfoot and Misty Fly. Misty Fly then looked smug as she held out her hoof expectantly while gesturing in a 'come on' manner. Scowling, Fleetfoot reluctantly put some bits into Misty Fly's hoof.


	8. The First Date

Later that night, Soarin and Rainbow Dash went to an inexpensive but still nice restaurant. Since this was their first date they decided to take things slow, especially since Rainbow Dash still had her mind on Scootaloo.

They had a pretty good time too, they enjoyed telling each other about various personal details. Family, certain facts about their foalhoods, that sort of thing. Rainbow Dash at one point even brought up her pet tortoise Tank.

"You seriously have a pet tortoise? I would've expected you to get a flying animal for a pet." Soarin said with surprise.

"I know, I did aim for that when I first looked for a pet. Er, plus a cool, awesome, radical, fast...well basically a pet version of me." Rainbow Dash chuckled awkwardly. "However it was so hard to pick between the cool animals I found at Fluttershy's that I decided to hold a series of tests to help me choose, sort of like a small marathon. Only more than sports was used, I also judged their tricks and sense of style."

"So like a combination of a marathon and a pet show?" Soarin guessed.

"Exactly. At the end some of them tied, so I decided to race them in Ghastly Gorge. Tank turned out to be one of the racers despite not having made the cut earlier...he was originally Fluttershy's idea too, to be honest I was disgusted when she included him in the lineup. But she was so insistent that I gave in and let him participate."

"So how did he win?"

"Well, during one part of the race I accidentally smacked into the wall of the gorge and caused an avalanche, which resulted in my wing getting pinned down by a boulder. I was fine, but I couldn't free myself. The flying racers kept going without even hearing my calls for help, so I thought I was going to be trapped in there forever. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty scared then."

"I don't blame you, anypony would be. I bet even the princesses would be if they weren't able to use magic to free themselves." Soarin said sympathetically. "I'm really glad you were able to escape...I'm guessing Tank was the one who freed you?"

"Yeah, instead of continuing to the finish line with the others he lifted the boulder off my wing with his head, and since my wing was sore from the weight of the boulder he carried me the rest of the way. Well almost, my friends had to meet us halfway due to his lack of speed." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

Soarin chuckled as well.

"So I ended up choosing him for two reasons: the first was that I learned that I was being, well, shallow about my choice in pets. I should've aimed for personality more than talent, and Tank's loyalty, determination, and big heart won me over." Rainbow Dash smiled. "The second reason allowed me to choose him despite the falcon having won the race: I only gave the race one rule, which was that the winning pet would have to cross the finish line with me. Of course I set up the rule that way because I thought I was going to win, but it worked out for the best anyway."

"That is really cool. I'd like to meet Tank sometime." Soarin smiled.

"No prob, even though he's mostly devoted to me he enjoys meeting ponies I care about. He really likes dad and Scootaloo at least. And Fluttershy too obviously."

They continued chatting, get to know each other more and liking each other more as well. Eventually it was time for them to go home.

"Hey, I know you don't need an escort anywhere but would you like me to fly you home anyway?" Soarin asked outside the restaurant.

"Sure, I'd at least like to show you where I live so that you can pick me up for our next date." Rainbow Dash smiled as she started to fly for home.

"Okay. When should that be, tomorrow? A few days from now?" Soarin asked as he followed her

"How about after I make my decision about adopting Scootaloo, if you don't mind. I kinda want to focus on only that at the moment." Rainbow Dash looked a bit down.

"I understand, it is a big decision you're considering after all." Soarin nodded. "Let me know the day after you adopt her okay? Might as well give her a little time to get settled at your place first since she's probably still getting used to the orphanage."

"Good idea, though the ponies at the orphanage are really nice so I doubt Scootaloo's having much trouble settling in." Rainbow Dash smiled again.

"That's good to hear." Soarin smiled back.

They now landed outside Rainbow Dash's home. Soarin looked the place over quickly, making a mental note of its appearance so that he would be able to find it when it was time to pick Rainbow Dash up for their next date.

"Yeah. Well, I'll contact you later." Rainbow Dash held out a hoof.

"Looking forward to it." Soarin bopped her hoof.

Rainbow Dash then headed inside, leaving a sad Soarin outside. Soarin looked at her home wistfully for a moment before flying to his own home. To be honest, he had been hoping that they'd kiss instead of bopping hooves. He knew that Rainbow Dash wasn't the romantic type, but he really wanted to kiss her. She was so beautiful and awesome to him that he knew that a kiss from her would be better than any performance with the other Wonderbolts. It would make his heart beat faster than the fastest flying speeds, it would warm him more than the sunniest day, it would-

Flying into a thick cloud snapped him out of his lovestruck state.

"Aw geez, I really got it bad." Soarin muttered to himself as he climbed out of the cloud. "I'd better not think about Rainbow Dash until I get home or else I might break a wing. Or worse."

He continued flying, keeping his thoughts on getting home, until he was finally safely inside his house.

"There, at least I can't cause any accidents now." Soarin sighed. "Boy, if just thinking about kissing Rainbow Dash causes me to lose sense of what I'm doing then the real thing would probably cause me to go into a coma. I really hope she's the one...I mean I'm sure she is but we just started dating so... What if she isn't the one?"

His heart ached at that thought.

"She'd better be, or...or my heart will break."

Back in her home, Rainbow Dash was having similar thoughts.

"Incredible, not only do I get my dream of becoming a Wonderbolt but I'm even dating my long-time crush." She grinned. "This is too good to be true...oh."

Her eyes widened. Often things that were too good to be true ended up having problems of one kind or another. Like becoming a Wonderbolt only to get a bad nickname (though that incident was explained and resolved quickly, so it turned out not to be too bad).

"Oh man...I hope things really do work out between us...in fact I hope he really is the one." She sighed, putting a hoof over her heart as she felt a slight ache there. "We had such a great time tonight, and I like him more than even I expected...I think my heart would break if it turned out we're not meant to be."

She winced a bit as her heart ached more.

"In fact, I know it would break. Maybe I should talk to Soarin about that during our next date, I'd hate it if we did break up and it ruins our relationship with the other Wonderbolts. Especially to the point where one of us would get kicked out. But as for now, back to considering adopting Scootaloo."

She spent quite some time thinking about it, until she grew tired and had to fall asleep. Fortunately the next day was pretty much a day off for her - nothing to be done with the Wonderbolts and the weather didn't need much maintenance - so she was able to continue her thinking for the entire day. Finally she realized something that helped her make her decision.


	9. A New Family

A few days later, Rainbow Dash visited the orphanage.

"Here to see Scootaloo I'm assuming?" The head caretaker smiled.

"Yeah, I have something important to ask her." Rainbow Dash nodded.

Scootaloo was summoned and soon showed up.

"Hey Rainbow Dash, what did you want to ask me?" She smiled.

"If you want me to stick with being your big sister...or if you'd like me to be your mom instead." Rainbow Dash smiled back.

Scootaloo dropped her mouth open for a few moments, and then beamed.

"Wait, does this mean...are you adopting me?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I am. Actually I would've done it earlier, but I had to ask Twilight for a letter of...recommendation to make sure that I'd be able to. Something I read in one of the adoption books I looked through." Rainbow Dash held up the letter from Twilight before giving it to the head caretaker. "To be honest, I was hesitant about adopting you because I wasn't sure if I could be a good guardian for a foal. But then I realized...I love you too much to not adopt you."

Scootaloo squealed and tackled Rainbow Dash in a hug. Not hard enough to knock her over, but just enough to force Rainbow Dash to sit down so that she wouldn't lose her balance. It was easier to return the hug while sitting than while standing anyway.

"I've been hoping that you'd adopt me." Scootaloo admitted, tearing up. "And you know what, I may have originally wanted you to be my big sister...but I love you enough to be okay with you being my mom instead. Besides, you're the only one who'd be the most awesome mom ever for me...after my birth mom of course."

"Of course." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Actually I was kinda hoping I could adopt you as your mom, but I didn't want to risk making it look as if I was trying to replace her."

"No worries about that, nopony could ever replace her. I'm just happy that I'm gonna be part of a family and have a real home again."

They ended the hug so that Rainbow Dash could finalize the adoption, and then packed up Scootaloo's things. She said goodbye to her roommates, who were gonna miss her despite having only known her for around a week. Despite that they also were glad that she got herself a real home, even though they were hoping to get one as well someday.

Once they left the orphanage they saw Twilight Sparkle there.

"Rainbow Dash asked me to help with the move." She smiled.

"Yeah, I didn't want to risk hurting you by carrying you and your things up to our home." Rainbow Dash explained. "And Fluttershy isn't used to carrying heavy luggage, so that left Twilight."

"Gotcha. Thanks Twilight, for helping Rainbow Dash adopt me." Scootaloo smiled.

"Of course." Twilight smiled.

Using her magic, Twilight took the luggage while Rainbow Dash picked up Scootaloo. They then flew to Rainbow Dash's home.

"Oh wow, this house is awesome!" Scootaloo beamed before looking sad. "Oh...I won't be able to get here on my own."

"Yes you will, Princess Celestia arranged for it." Twilight smiled. "I sent her a letter mentioning that detail once Rainbow Dash told me that she decided to adopt you."

"Really? What did she do?"

"She set up a small hot air balloon over there." Rainbow Dash pointed to their left.

Scootaloo looked and saw a small hot air balloon with Rainbow Dash's and Scootaloo's Cutie Marks on the balloon part.

"It's easy to operate too, but Princess Celestia left instructions in the basket just in case." Twilight smiled. "She also put a spell on it to prevent it from floating away, it'll only go down and up whenever you work the controls. Sort of like an elevator."

"Cool." Scootaloo smiled, feeling better but still wishing she could fly.

"Yeah, really cool. Well, unless you two need any help I'd better double-check on Pinkie. She ended up finding out about the adoption so I have to make sure she won't go overboard with the party."

"No prob, you go ahead." Rainbow Dash chuckled, starting to imagine what Pinkie is probably setting up right now.

"Definitely, I mean I'm not ashamed about having been adopted or anything but those get well gifts at the hospital were already overwhelming enough." Scootaloo nodded.

"Figured as much. See you two later." Twilight left.

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo waved after her, and then started to move Scootaloo's things into the house.

"Oh, you're sure you can handle my bed on your own?" Scootaloo asked.

"No prob, I built up quite a big of strength from Wonderbolt training." Rainbow Dash grinned.

Even so it was easy to see that carrying the bed on her back was kinda difficult, but Scootaloo knew better than to provoke her new mom's pride. It's better that Rainbow Dash slightly hurt herself carrying the bed the less harmful way than to seriously hurt herself trying to prove her strength.

So instead Scootaloo resigned to carrying one of the heavier pieces of luggage in her mouth so that Rainbow Dash wouldn't make any bruises or stiff muscles worse carrying them next.

"Hey Little Buddy, you'd better go upstairs first so that you can pick out your new bedroom." Rainbow Dash grunted. "I've got some spare rooms near mine you can choose from."

"Right." Scootaloo dragged the one bag upstairs as quickly as she could.

She then looked at the spare rooms, which were easy to find since Rainbow Dash had only shut the doors to the taken rooms. She decided on the one across the hallway from Rainbow Dash's, it was not only close but also very roomy.

"Nice pick." Rainbow Dash panted, gently tipping the bed off her back outside the doorway. "Right, good thing clouds can't leave scratches or anything..."

She then pushed the bed through the doorway and into the room.

"Where would you like it?" She asked.

"Against that wall." Scootaloo pointed to the wall on the left of the doorway.

Rainbow Dash pushed the bed there, and then sat to catch her breath.

"Yeah...good workout..." She smiled triumphantly.

"You sure you're okay?" Scootaloo asked concernedly.

"You kidding? That was nothing compared to some of the exercises the Wonderbolts do." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Come on, we'd better get the rest of your stuff."

"Right."

They did, and then after bringing in the last of the luggage Rainbow Dash helped Scootaloo unpack and place items where Scootaloo wanted them.

"Wow, don't know about you but after all this I sure could use a cold treat." Rainbow Dash smiled approvingly at the way Scootaloo's new bedroom looked. "Whaddya say?"

"Definitely. Pinkie's hosting the party at Sugarcube Corner right?" Scootaloo smirked.

Rainbow Dash laughed pleasantly.

"Man, you know her almost as well as I do." She ruffled Scootaloo's mane.

"Hanging around you often helped with that." Scootaloo grinned.

Rainbow Dash grinned back, and they headed outside.

"How about we test your new balloon elevator together?" Rainbow Dash suggested.

"Sure." Scootaloo smiled, touched that Rainbow Dash was willing to ride down with her instead of flying down.

Fortunately Twilight was right about the hot air balloon being easy to operate, and Scootaloo had to admit riding it down was kinda fun. Especially since she could enjoy the view longer than she would have if she had been able to quickly fly down.

After landing they walked to Sugarcube Corner, and Rainbow Dash opened the door.

"SURPRISE!" Pinkie grinned as cheers, confetti, and party horns filled the room.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hurried over to Scootaloo.

"It's great that yer big sis finally adopted ya." Apple Bloom grinned.

"It is, but Rainbow Dash isn't my big sister anymore. She's my mom now." Scootaloo smiled.

Twilight was the only guest who wasn't surprised by this.

"Really? That's so sweet!" Sweetie Belle hugged Scootaloo.

"Blimey, you sure are lucky to have your idol for a mum." Pipsqueak smiled.

Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash and smiled.

"Yeah, very lucky." She said.

Rainbow Dash smiled back.

They all then started the party, having a lot of fun. Interestingly this was a rare party with no presents, but that was due to Twilight's interference. She made Pinkie tell the guests to not bring any presents since she knew that it'd be too much for Scootaloo. However, two ponies brought in a present anyway: Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"We know we weren't supposed to bring any presents, but we came up with this present long before Pinkie Pie mentioned a party." Diamond Tiara smiled.

"Well, technically you came up with the present." Silver Spoon smiled.

"Okay true, but you helped me buy it." Diamond Tiara pointed out.

"Right. So anyway, this is from me and Diamond Tiara." Silver Spoon pushed the box towards Scootaloo.

Scootaloo unwrapped the box and opened it, and gasped. Inside was a rainbow-colored saddle. A unique saddle too, because along with stirrups for back hooves the saddle also included a belt to keep a foal's body on it and straps for front hooves to hold onto.

"This...this is a really cool saddle but...it's kinda big for me." Scootaloo admitted.

"We know, it's for Rainbow Dash to wear...and for you to ride on." Diamond Tiara smiled before looking sad. "The truth is, I still feel bad about having made fun of your inability to fly. And now that you lost most of your wing...well, I just wanted to give you a way to fly and knew that a hot air balloon wouldn't be enough. So I then came up with the idea of providing a way for you to safely ride Rainbow Dash whenever she flew."

"Gosh...but where did you get the saddle?" Scootaloo looked very touched, but also confused.

"Rarity made it, and we paid for it by doing certain chores for our parents." Silver Spoon smiled. "We wanted to pay for it ourselves without taking advantage of our wealth."

"I also talked to dad first to make sure that I was doing the right thing, and we talked to Rainbow Dash to make sure that the idea was okay with her." Diamond Tiara added.

"It was more than okay with me." Rainbow Dash smiled to Scootaloo. "Even though you're all kinds of awesome flying or no flying I knew that you still want to fly and I figured this would be the closest thing to it."

"Actually...it's better than flying on my own. Because I'll be flying with my new mom every time." Scootaloo smiled back.

She then went over to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon and hugged them.

"Thank you both." She said.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon smiled and returned the hug.

"Come on mom, let's try it out." Scootaloo then grinned after breaking the hug.

"You bet!" Rainbow Dash grinned back.

Rainbow Dash picked up the saddle and dashed outside with Scootaloo. Everyone else, Spike and Discord included, followed. They wanted to see Scootaloo finally fly - more or less - as much as she wanted to fly.

Rainbow Dash then put the saddle on and crouched down so that Scootaloo could easily get on. It was a little awkward, but Scootaloo managed to slide under the belt and stick her hooves into the proper straps/stirrups.

"Ready Little Buddy?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"More than ready." Scootaloo smiled.

Rainbow Dash then took off, making sure to stick with a speed that would be fast yet not overwhelming for a first flight. Scootaloo cheered as they went higher up.

"This is beyond awesome!" Scootaloo laughed, looking around and enjoying the wind in her mane.

"I'll say, this is way better than flying on my own." Rainbow Dash laughed. "Even though I used to be a bit of a solo act I still always loved flying with other pegasi, but never dreamed that I'd be flying with my own foal. Gotta admit, I never dreamed I'd ever have a foal at all."

"Really? Despite your crush on Soarin?" Scootaloo friendly-teased.

"Don't make me noogie you after we land." Rainbow Dash smirked back. "But yeah, even though I used to dream of hanging out with him - flying mostly - I never thought I could be a mom. You sure changed that, and I'm grateful to you for it."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. You see despite my attitude I always hated being alone, and I was harshly reminded of that during my first winter with Tank. Or without Tank, technically. Thanks to you, I now have a year-round family member living with me. Still wish your parents hadn't died, but I am grateful that you're an official relative instead of an honorary one now."

"Same here. But do you actually like being my mom more than my big sister?"

"Well we just started being mom and daughter today so I don't know for sure. But I do know that I am proud to call you my daughter."

Scootaloo teared up with joy at that.

"So kiddo, ready for some moves?" Rainbow Dash then grinned.

"You bet! How about some loop-de-loops first?" Scootaloo grinned back.

"You got it, hold on!"

Rainbow Dash flew some loop-de-loops, Scootaloo cheering with delight and excitement during them. Then Rainbow Dash did some ups and downs like a roller coaster before doing a quick spin that made Scootaloo laugh.

"Hey, how about a Sonic Rainboom?" Scootaloo asked.

"Sorry Scoots, that one is a definite 'me-only' move. I don't want to risk hurting you."

"Aww, I want to experience making one."

"I understand, but hey if you did do it with me then you wouldn't be able to see the boom or rainbow I make every time."

"Well, I guess that's true...okay."

After a bit more flying Rainbow Dash carefully came in for a landing, not wanting to risk crashing and hurting Scootaloo.

"That was totally awesome!" Scootaloo grinned to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. "Thanks again you two."

"Well, what are friends for?" Diamond Tiara smiled back.

They all hung out and partied some more, and then it was time for Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo to head home. Once she entered the kitchen Rainbow Dash started making a simple salad for dinner.

"So, I know I just adopted you today but I was thinking of going out with Soarin again tomorrow night. Is that okay?" She asked.

"You kidding? I love the fact that you finally ended up with your crush." Scootaloo smiled. "To be honest, even though I'm like you when it comes to sappy stuff I'm actually a bit of a romantic."

"I figured as much after that Hearts and Hooves Day incident with Big Mac and Miss Cheerilee." Rainbow Dash smirked.

Scootaloo's eyes widened and she blushed slightly.

"You knew about that?" She said nervously.

"Yeah, caught the end of it as I was flying over. Had no idea Big Mac was strong enough to drag a house." Rainbow Dash remarked before noticing Scootaloo's nervous look. "Relax, I'm not mad. It's too late to be mad and Big Mac and Miss Cheerilee already punished you three anyway."

Scootaloo relaxed.

"Just don't try that Love Poison stuff with me and Soarin 'kay?" Rainbow Dash then winked teasingly.

"Ew, no way. I'm not **that** much of a romantic." Scootaloo chuckled before sincerely adding: "I just like seeing two good ponies who are meant for each other end up together that's all."

"Can't blame you for that one. I was pretty happy about Spike and Rarity end up together, same with Flicker and Twilight." Rainbow Dash smiled. "And I was also happy about Applejack and Richie, I had been hoping she'd find a very special somepony. Truthfully I hope Big Mac will for real as well, he and Applejack especially deserve to find somepony after all they've been through."

"I know...maybe when you and Soarin go out I can stay with the Apples? Wouldn't mind talking a bit about my parents with them since...you know."

"I think that's a good idea. I was actually considering asking Fluttershy, but staying with the Apples may be better for you. Oh yeah...almost forgot. Still have to set up a session with a psychologist here."

Rainbow Dash then served the salad and carried the bowls into the dining room.

"Oh yeah...can you come with me the first time? I never talked to a stranger about something like this before." Scootaloo said as she sat down.

"Sure thing." Rainbow Dash smiled as she sat down as well.

They then ate dinner as they talked about other subjects.


	10. The Second Date and Slumber Party

The next morning Rainbow Dash dropped Scootaloo off at school before going to work with the Wonderbolts.

"Hey Dash." Soarin smiled.

"Hey Soarin. I adopted Scootaloo yesterday and she's fine with us going out again tonight." Rainbow Dash smiled back. "Where would you like to go?"

"How about a fun flight after dinner?"

"Sounds perfect."

Later that afternoon Rainbow Dash picked up Scootaloo from school. Applejack was there as well picking up Apple Bloom, and they hurried over to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo.

"Of course Scootaloo can stay with us while you go out with Soarin." Applejack smiled. "I'm glad you found your very special somepony."

"I'm glad you found yours too. Speaking of Richie is he still here or...?"

"Yeah, but he's leavin' tomorrow. Work and all you know."

"Gotcha. Say is it okay if Scootaloo stays overnight? Soarin and I are going out for a flight after dinner so I don't know how long we'll be."

"Sure thing, I'll ask Mr. and Mrs. Flanks if Sweetie Belle can spend the night too and I'll even take them to school tomorrow."

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo hoof bumped. They always loved having a Cutie Mark Crusaders Slumber Party.

"Cool. Well come on Little Buddy, I want you to get your homework done before you go to the slumber party." Rainbow Dash said.

"All right." Scootaloo sighed, obviously not liking homework. "I want to get a few of my things anyway."

"Say, yer doin' pretty good for a first-time mom." Applejack smiled.

"You can thank those foal-rearing books I looked through before deciding to adopt Scootaloo." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Well, see you until this evening."

"Righto, come on Apple Bloom you should get your homework done before Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle come over anyway."

"Aww..." Apple Bloom pouted.

They went their separate ways, and Rainbow Dash flew Scootaloo home on her back. Even though they still had the hot air balloon-elevator they decided to use the saddle and fly most of the time.

After Scootaloo got her homework done and gathered what she needed for the slumber party Rainbow Dash flew her to Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie Belle was already there, having overheard the talk about a slumber party at Sweet Apple Acres and wanting to go. Her parents agreed and even helped her with the homework so that she could finish sooner.

"You be good for them okay kiddo?" Rainbow Dash ruffled Scootaloo's mane.

"You bet mom." Scootaloo hugged her.

Rainbow Dash returned the hug, and then flew home waiting for Soarin to pick her up.

He came by a few minutes later, and they flew to the restaurant. After a yummy meal and a fun conversation, they went out for their flight. At first they were just having fun, racing and playfully showing off, but then Soarin froze when he saw Rainbow Dash illuminated by moonlight. Noticing that he stopped, Rainbow Dash did as well.

"What?" She asked.

Soarin snapped out of it.

"Oh, uh, nothing...it's just that...you're beautiful." He blushed.

Rainbow Dash blushed as well in spite of herself. She could feel her heart skip a beat.

"Heh, thanks. You're pretty handsome yourself." She said, trying to play it cool despite her heart racing.

Soarin's heart raced as well.

"Rainbow Dash I...I have to tell you something." Soarin's heart started pounding.

"What is it?" Rainbow Dash started to feel warm.

"I...I love you."

Rainbow Dash felt even warmer and a bit dazed, but she snapped out of it.

"I love you too." She smiled.

Soarin beamed. He then flew closer to her, but she flew away from him before giving him a playful teasing look. Soarin laughed and flew after her as she flew away, their flight soon turning into another race.

Rainbow Dash beat Soarin to her house.

"Ha, beat ya." Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Only because I didn't want you to leave my sight." Soarin smirked.

Rainbow Dash blushed again before she could stop herself, and her heart started beating faster again.

Noticing this, Soarin inched closer to her. This time he was going to make sure that they did something more than a hoof-bump.

Rainbow Dash felt a bit frozen as she saw Soarin near her. Then his face moved in closer, and her heart started pounding. She felt like quickly heading inside, but she couldn't move her legs because deep down she had been wanting to kiss Soarin for a long time.

Finally Soarin gently placed his lips on her own. Rainbow Dash stiffened and her wings automatically shot straight up. Her heart then started beating faster as she relaxed and brought her wings back in. Her mind fogged up with love...and she returned the kiss.

Soarin breathed in with joy as he felt Rainbow Dash's love for him. They stayed like that for a few minutes, only stopping for the need to breathe.

Soarin smiled goofily, more sure than ever that Rainbow Dash was the one. Rainbow Dash however was in too thick a fog to think straight, all she could do was gaze into Soarin's eyes and feel her heart beat faster than ever. She giggled without thinking.

"You're an amazing kisser." She said almost flirtingly.

"Thanks, so are you." Soarin chuckled before shaking his head clear, realizing that Rainbow Dash wasn't acting like herself. "Um, are you okay?"

"Okay? I feel wonderful." Rainbow Dash leaned against him, resting her head over his heart.

Soarin now got it: she was lovesick.

"You should probably get to bed now, that is if you think you can walk up the stairs." He suggested.

"I don't want you to leave..." Rainbow Dash sighed.

"Hey, it's not like I'm leaving for good right? We'll see each other at work tomorrow." Soarin smiled before gently pushing her head off his chest. "But to be frank you're a bit giddy right now and I don't want you to do anything you might regret later."

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash shook her head quickly. "Whoa, geez, you're right. Sorry if I was weird just then."

"Nah, actually I'm flattered that you love me that much." Soarin grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"You bet, see you later." Rainbow Dash grinned as she went inside.

But just as she shut the door, she leaned against it feeling love fog her mind again.

"He kissed me...Soarin kissed me..." She sighed, giggling a little...and then she shook her head quickly again. "Okay come on Rainbow Dash, not cool. Pull yourself together."

The love fog started to come back, but she slapped herself across the face before it could take over.

"Geez get ahold of yourself, your acting like a schoolfilly for ponies' sake." Rainbow Dash frowned with disgust as she headed upstairs. "That is not how I act, I'm cool, indifferent, and certainly don't giggle."

She then went into her room, getting ready for bed.

"I can't believe I acted like that in front of him too...at least he saw it as a compliment." She muttered before smiling. "He really is a great guy...I'm now more than sure that he's the one."

She looked over at her Wonderbolts poster, and without thinking flew to it and kissed the image of Soarin. She then realized what she just did and groaned.

"What is wrong with me anyway?" She collapsed onto the bed. "Am I so much in love that I can't even-"

Her eyes widened. She then slowly smiled with realization.

"I...I guess I am...so this is what being in love feels like..." She sighed before chuckling. "No wonder Spike used to act goofy around Rarity."

This time, she let the love fog take over her mind as she fell asleep. She ended up having a wonderful dream of her and Soarin being together.

The next morning Rainbow Dash flew to work. By this point she had been able to regain control of herself - apparently the love fog satisfied itself with that wonderful dream she had - so nopony realized that she was in love.

"Hey Soarin." She smiled as she entered the locker room.

"Hey Dash, feeling better? You were kinda 'lovesick' last night." Soarin smiled.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Good thing too, I don't even want to think about how lovesickness affects flying abilities."

"You and me both. Come on, we'd better head out before Spitfire starts assigning cleaning duties."

They both laughed as they finished getting ready and headed out for training.

After work Rainbow Dash picked up Scootaloo from school. Fortunately Spitfire was willing to give Rainbow Dash a slightly-easier schedule so that she could have time for her new daughter. The only exception was the actual performances, Rainbow Dash had to come to every one except whenever a serious situation (her being sick, Scootaloo being sick, etc) occurred.

"Hey mom, how was your date last night?" Scootaloo smiled as she hurried over to Rainbow Dash.

"Wonderful." Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Glad to hear it Sugar Cube." Applejack smiled as she neared the two pegasi. "I was hopin' things would go great last night."

"More than great...can I tell you two a secret?"

"You bet." Applejack said as Scootaloo nodded.

"Promise you won't tell anypony?"

"Pinkie Promise." Applejack and Scootaloo both said.

"Okay. The truth is I don't have a crush on Soarin or even like him. I mean I do like him, but...I also love him. I'm in love."

Applejack didn't say anything. She just hugged Rainbow Dash.

"Oh boy, I'm gonna get another awesome Wonderbolt for a dad!" Scootaloo fluttered her wings excitedly.

Rainbow Dash blushed but quickly recovered.

"Heh, a little too soon to be talking about that sort of thing squirt." She chuckled. "I mean Soarin and I just had our second date."

"Okay...can I still daydream about it?"

"Well I can't read minds so there's no way for me to stop you anyway."

"Great." Scootaloo grinned.

Applejack then broke away from Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash could see tears of joy in her eyes, though said tears didn't go down her cheeks.

"After all these years...you've finally found the one." Applejack smiled before chuckling. "And it turns out to be the stallion you've had a crush on for years."

"Yeah, ya can't get luckier than that." Rainbow Dash chuckled back.

Apple Bloom then showed up.

"Ah there ya are lil sis, what kept ya?" Applejack smiled.

"Sorry, I was thinkin' and lost track of time." Apple Bloom for some reason looked a little ashamed.

Applejack, Scootaloo, and even Rainbow Dash looked at her with concern.

"What's wrong Sugar Cube?" Applejack asked gently.

"Well, I was thinkin' how wonderful it is that you found yer very special somepony an' all. Especially since I really like Richie, he's already like a brother to me." Apple Bloom took a deep breath. "But then I got to thinkin' about Big Mac findin' his very special somepony again and I remembered about the time Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and I tried settin' him up with Miss Cheerilee..."

"Do you actually still feel bad about that?" Scootaloo was surprised. "That happened years ago, and there wasn't any permanent damage so-"

"No it's not that. It's just...I can't stop thinkin' that Big Mac and Miss Cheerilee are right for each other." Apple Bloom admitted. "Yeah the Love Poison was a bad idea, but they're both nice and hard workin' and...and I still believe that they belong together."

"Oh..."

"Truthfully I can't blame ya for that." Applejack smiled reassuringly. "After all those two are pretty close and get along well, and I'll admit I do like the idea of Miss Cheerilee joinin' the family." She then became serious. " However-"

"I know I know, relax I'm not gonna try to set them up anymore." Apple Bloom cut in. "I just wish things had worked out better that's all."

"Eh, maybe it would have if we hadn't been so obvious." Scootaloo winced.

"Maybe..."

"Patience there Apple Bloom, things will work out when the time is right. Remember how impatient you were about your Cutie Mark only to wind up gettin' a really awesome one?" Applejack smiled.

"Yeah." Apple Bloom now smiled. "I know now, if yer patient then things will work out better than you expected."

"Exactly. Now let's be gettin' home, I've got a heap of chores to do as usual. See you two later."

"All right, see ya." Rainbow Dash smiled before turning to Scootaloo. "So Applejack already knew too huh?"

"Yeah, she saw that we were doing Big Mac's chores and asked us about it." Scootaloo explained. "Fortunately since Big Mac and Miss Cheerilee already took care of punishing us Applejack didn't get mad, but obviously she wasn't happy either. Truthfully I think Sweetie Belle's family are the only ones who doesn't know about that day."

"Probably just as well, you don't want to mess with Rarity when she's angry. Come on Little Buddy, let's go home."

And they did.


	11. The Confidence of Motherhood

A couple days later, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo got a surprise visitor.

"Wha-? Daring Do?" Rainbow Dash said as soon as she opened the door.

Sure enough Daring Do had shown up in her A.K. Yearling outfit.

"Um, hi Rainbow Dash." Daring Do said, for some reason looking nervous. "May I come in?"

"Of course. You can drop the disguise too, it's just me and Scootaloo. Remember me telling you about her?" Rainbow Dash smiled as she let Daring Do in.

"Oh yeah, she's your little-sister figure." Daring Do smiled back as she took off her hat, glasses, and cloak.

"Wow Daring Do!" Scootaloo beamed as she appeared. "Way cool, I thought you only left your hut for adventures."

"Well I had something important to do...that's why I'm here actually." Daring Do looked nervous again.

"Is it private, or is it okay if my daughter hears it too?" Rainbow Dash asked.

Daring Do dropped her mouth open.

"D-daughter?" She looked at Scootaloo again. "B-but I thought she-"

"Well when we were in Manehattan days ago there was a fire in the hotel we were staying at. I was able to get Scootaloo out with minimal damage, but her parents...I didn't even know about them until it was too late." Rainbow Dash sadly explained.

"Oh...I'm so sorry-" Daring Do said to Scootaloo sympathetically before noticing her partially-missing wing. "That's the, uh, 'minimal damage' huh?"

"Yeah, a burning piece of timber had pinned it to the floor." Scootaloo nodded.

"Anyway, after thinking it over I decided to adopt Scootaloo as my daughter. Loved her enough to do so so-" Rainbow Dash noticed that Daring Do was suddenly upset. "Hey, you okay?"

"You...you adopted her? Despite all the dangers you've been through?" Daring Do asked, upset but not appalled; it was more like she was feeling bad about something.

"Well yeah, I know I can protect her from any danger that might show up so-"

Much to Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo's surprise, Daring Do burst into tears and flew away.

"Hey wait!" Rainbow Dash called after her; no luck. "Geez, something really is wrong if it's making her act like that."

"I know, we'd better go make sure she'll be okay." Scootaloo agreed.

"Right." Rainbow Dash put on the rainbow saddle, which they always kept near the front door. "Hop on kid."

Scootaloo quickly got settled into the saddle, and Rainbow Dash flew after Daring Do.

"Hey wait, whatever's wrong I'm sure we can help!" Rainbow Dash called after her once she was sure she was close enough for Daring do to hear her.

No response, either Daring Do was still too far away to hear her or she was too distracted by whatever was upsetting her.

Finally, much to Rainbow Dash's shock, Daring Do stopped outside Rainbow Blaze's house. Rainbow Dash landed nearby with her mouth open.

"My dad and Daring Do know each other?" She said more to herself than to Scootaloo.

"What?" Scootaloo said with shock, hearing her anyway.

Daring Do, still in tears, knocked on the door. After some moments Rainbow Blaze opened it.

"Yes can I-" Rainbow Blaze's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "Daring?"

Daring collapsed into his chest still crying. Still stunned but now feeling sympathy, Rainbow Blaze gently brought Daring Do inside.

"I don't understand..." Rainbow Dash muttered.

"Then why don't you ask them what's going on?" Scootaloo suggested.

"Huh?" Rainbow Dash had been so shocked that she actually forgot about Scootaloo for a moment. "Oh yeah." She then chuckled, realizing that Scootaloo was right: the best way to get an explanation was to ask.

She let Scootaloo down and then they headed for the front door. Rainbow Dash knocked and her dad opened it.

"Daring showed up at your place first huh?" Rainbow Blaze guessed knowingly.

"Yeah. Dad how do you know her...and how come you never told me?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Better come inside, it'd be easier to explain in privacy." Rainbow Blaze stepped back to let Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo in.

They headed for the living room and saw Daring Doo still crying, but somewhat calming down otherwise.

"I still don't understand, how do you two know each other?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Before we, or rather Daring, explains I want to know what made her upset." Rainbow Blaze said, sounding concerned.

"I'm not sure, but she found out about my having adopted Scootaloo and seemed surprised that I did despite the dangers I've been through."

"Oh...no wonder..." Rainbow Blaze now looked at Daring Do sympathetically; he went over to the couch and wrapped a wing around her. "Daring honey, come on it's time you told her."

"Honey?" Scootaloo repeated.

Daring Do sniffled and wiped her eyes.

"Okay...Rainbow Dash the truth is..." Daring Do hung her head. "I'm your mother."

Both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo dropped their mouths open so much that if they had been in a toon World their jaws would've hit the floor.

"Wh-wha- Y-you're-" Rainbow Dash stammered before suddenly bursting out. "But I thought you were dead!"

Daring Do looked surprised.

"What?" She said.

"Well whenever I asked dad about you he would look sad and refuse to say anything so I just assumed-" Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"Oh..." Daring Do hung her head again.

"Dashie, I was sad because of your mom leaving us, not because of her being dead." Rainbow Blaze explained. "Although it's my fault you thought that, I should've said something but...but the memory was so painful that..."

"I'm really sorry." Daring Do sobbed. "You know I never wanted to hurt you."

"I know, I remember, that was why you left." Rainbow Blaze said gently. "You didn't want me or Dashie to get hurt."

"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Okay, let's start from the beginning." Daring Do sighed. "When your father and I met I was just a beginning archeologist, we met at the Cloudsdale Museum where I was doing some personal studying before going on my first excavation. We hit it off, obviously, and when I got back we started dating. Eventually we got married and had you, also obvious. But then during one of my excavations, while you were still a baby, I ran into Ahuizotl for the first time. Realizing that he was after certain artifacts for power, I decided to devote myself to stopping him. Back then I wasn't so good at dealing with him, in fact The Sapphire Stone was the first time I was able to successfully stop him with minimal...er, embarrassing slip-ups. Because of this his constant threats easily got to me back then, making me worried that he would someday threaten you and Blaze and even harm one of you."

"Oh, I see now. You left to prevent Ahuizotl from finding out about us." Rainbow Dash smiled, now understanding everything. "You left to protect us."

"Yes, because I didn't believe in myself." Daring Do hung her head once more with shame. "I didn't believe that I'd be able to protect you both from any dangers that might threaten either of you. Unlike you, you have so much confidence in yourself that you were able to adopt a foal despite the dangers you've been through. You're a better mother than I'll ever be."

"That's not true, after all what you did you did out of love for us." Rainbow Dash smiled, going over to her mom. "And you said yourself that you were just starting out at dealing with dangers, so of course you wouldn't know what you're capable of back then. I however helped Twilight deal with Nightmare Moon, had to deal with a pre-reformed Discord corrupting me, helped face a massive Changeling swarm, and on top of everything else I had my flying ability stolen by an evil centaur and helped my friends defeat him with a new power the Tree of Harmony blessed us with. Of course I'd know what I'm capable of after dealing with all that, so I also know that I'll be able to protect my daughter from just about anything. What about you, after dealing with Ahuizotl, Dr. Caballeron, and all those booby traps so many times do you now know that you'll be able to protect me and dad?"

Daring Do was stunned by what Rainbow Dash had been through. Truthfully cutting herself off from society meant that she missed out on a lot, she didn't even know about the Tirek incident. But as Rainbow Dash finished her speech she smiled.

"Yeah...now I do know that I'll be able to protect you both. Well actually just Blaze, since it sounds like you don't need protection anymore." She said.

Blaze rolled his eyes amusedly/annoyedly.

"Anyway, I guess you now know that's why I showed up." Daring Do continued. "I recognized you around the time we defeated Ahuizotl - didn't earlier because I was so focused on stopping him at the time - and couldn't stop thinking about you. I eventually realized that I want to be back in your life again, and that I want to go back to being Blaze's wife. I still love you both so much...truthfully I missed you both a whole lot."

"I missed you too." Blaze wrapped a hoof around her and kissed her on the cheek.

"I missed you too mom, even though I didn't know who you are until now I always missed you." Rainbow Dash smiled before hugging Daring Do.

Daring Do returned the hug and Blaze joined in the hug. Daring Do nuzzled them both before remembering:

"Come on and join us Scootaloo, you are my grandfilly after all." She smiled.

Scootaloo joined in the hug as best as she could, since she couldn't wrap her hooves around Rainbow Dash and Rainbow Blaze that well.

"So, does this mean you're moving here?" Scootaloo asked.

"You bet, after I gather my personal things. I think leaving that hut will confuse Ahuizotl and Dr. Caballeron enough to keep them from finding any artifacts here anyway." Daring Do smiled. "I know it sounds dangerous, bringing my work home with me and all, but they only met Rainbow Dash and her friends once and probably don't know that I stayed in contact with her. So I doubt they'd think to look here."

"And if you hide the artifacts in other homes it would confuse them even more. My place and Twilight's home - the Castle of Friendship - for example." Rainbow Dash suggested.

"Maybe...castle huh? Shouldn't be surprised since I noticed that Twilight's an alicorn." Daring Do chuckled. "Hmm...no offense Dashie but I think I'll make the Castle of Friendship my second choice. Castles after all have so many rooms that it makes hiding special items in there easier."

"That's actually a good idea, especially since it's easy to get lost in that place." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

The four of them then continued chatting about various subjects, catching up and discussing the future. Daring Do was very proud of Rainbow Dash when she heard about her becoming a Wonderbolt, and was looking forward to going to the next performance.

"Oh man I completely forgot." Rainbow Dash suddenly facehoofed. "I have a very special somepony now."

"Really? That Soarin guy right?" Rainbow Blaze smiled. "I do like him, any stallion who takes time off work to visit a mare he cares about is a good stallion. Plus you have had a crush on him for a long time." He then winked teasingly.

"Yeah, that's the one." Rainbow Dash blushed slightly from the teasing. "We went out a couple times, and I have a good feeling that he's the one."

"In that case I'd love to meet him sometime." Daring Do smiled. "When would be a good time for that?"

"Well since he already met dad soon would be a good time." Rainbow Dash thought it over. "Tell you what, next work day I'll talk to him about it."

"Sounds good."


	12. Meeting the Parents

The next work day Rainbow Dash went over to Soarin.

"Hey Soarin, I have something to ask you." She said.

"Sure thing, what is it?" Soarin smiled.

"When's a good day for you to meet my mom?"

"Your mom? Did you find out where her grave is?" Soarin asked with confusion.

"Better, it turns out I was wrong about her being dead. She's alive and well and returned to me and dad." Rainbow Dash grinned. "I'd tell you more, but the fewer ponies who know the truth about her the better. You'll find out anyway when you meet her."

"Well in that case our next day off is a good day, because I'd love to meet her." Soarin smiled. "After all if you're happy about her being back then she must've left you and your dad for a good reason."

"A very good reason." Rainbow Dash nodded.

So the next day off Rainbow Dash took Soarin to her parents' home and knocked on the door. Rainbow Blaze opened it.

"Great to see you again Soarin, how are things with the Wonderbolts?" Rainbow Blaze smiled.

"They've been better ever since your daughter joined us." Soarin smiled back.

"Flatterer." Rainbow Dash scoffed, playfully nudging Soarin in the side. "So anyway, remember me telling you about Daring Do?"

"Yeah, I've even checked out a few of the books since then. Why?"

"Come on in and you'll see."

Soarin did, and dropped his mouth open upon seeing Daring Do in the living room.

"No way, Daring Do is real? Dash why didn't you tell me that before?" Soarin said excitedly.

"Because she said that I could only tell my family." Rainbow Dash smiled. "However we made an exception in this case since she wanted to meet you."

"Really? I'm flattered...but also confused, I thought I was going to meet your-" Soarin's eyes widened and he looked at Daring Do again. "Hold on a- Are you-?"

"You got it." Daring Do smiled. "I'm Rainbow Dash's mother."

Soarin dropped his mouth open again but then chuckled.

"Actually should've guessed earlier since I now see where Rainbow Dash got her awesomeness from." He smiled.

"Hey what about me?" Rainbow Blaze pretended to be insulted.

"Oh, uh, no offense Mr. Blaze." Soarin said sheepishly.

"It's okay." Rainbow Blaze chuckled. "You're right anyway, Dashie definitely got her awesomeness from her mom."

"And her beauty." Soarin added.

Rainbow Dash actually blushed.

"Yes, and she got her stylish colors and her sense of loyalty from her father." Daring Do smiled.

"Really? Because it'd take loyalty to protect others from enemies like Ahuizotl. That is if he is real too." Soarin pointed out.

"He is. And thanks, you're right actually I'm just still feeling a little bad for having left Blaze and Dashie years ago."

"Because of those adventures you went on right?"

"Sort of, more like to protect them from the dangers I encountered during those adventures."

"Mom, you really should stop feeling bad. I mean I more than forgave you you know." Rainbow Dash said.

"I know, but that doesn't change the fact that I've missed out on your entire life. Especially your foalhood." Daring Do sighed.

"Oh yeah..." Rainbow Dash couldn't argue with that.

"Well, at least you're here now and can be there for her future." Soarin smiled.

Daring Do smiled back.

"You're right, and I will be." She agreed. "I like you already, you're a good stallion for my daughter."

"Thank you Mrs. Dash, and I'll do my best to continue being one."

They hung out and talked for a few hours longer before Rainbow Dash and Soarin headed home. They went to Rainbow Dash's home first, Soarin wanting to drop her off so that they could talk a bit more.

"I'm really glad my parents like you, it's another sign that you're the one." Rainbow Dash smiled.

"Me too- You really think I'm the one?" Soarin smiled back.

Rainbow Dash blushed, not having meant to say that out loud.

"Er...well..." Rainbow Dash stammered a little before smiling. "Actually, I'm sure you're the one. I mean only 'the one' could make me lovesick." She then grinned and winked.

Soarin now blushed.

"Can't argue with that." He agreed. "And I'm glad you're sure, because I'm sure you're the one for me."

Rainbow Dash beamed.

They landed in front of her front door, and Rainbow Dash kissed Soarin. Soarin stiffened at first, but then relaxed and returned the kiss.

"Just getting you back for when you kissed me." Rainbow Dash winked after they ended the kiss.

"Heh, then I'll have to kiss you often so that you can get back at me often." Soarin smirked back.

"Careful, or I may have to resort to some real payback." Rainbow Dash teased.

"Uh..." Soarin blushed and his heart started pounding. "What do you mean?"

"You'll just have to find out." Rainbow Dash whispered into his ear.

Soarin's heart skipped a beat.

Rainbow Dash then turned to let herself inside, only to look back and wink again before heading inside. Soarin's heart skipped a beat again and started racing.

"Geez, I sure can pick 'em." Soarin smiled to himself.

Rainbow Dash didn't completely win that conversation though, because Scootaloo and Fluttershy - who was foalsitting Scootaloo - had seen Rainbow Dash wink at Soarin. Realizing this caused Rainbow Dash to blush with embarrassment.

"Were you actually flirting with him?" Scootaloo asked.

"Er...heh..." Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, I-I can't help it. I really do love him."

"Hey relax, it's cool. I mean obviously I'm not into flirting, but I'm glad you love him that much." Scootaloo smiled. "I was just surprised, that's all."

"Oh." Rainbow Dash sighed with relief, glad that Scootaloo didn't think less of her for acting a bit out of character.

"I was too, sort of." Fluttershy admitted before smiling. "But I am so happy that you finally found your very special somepony, I've been hoping for a long time that you would. And Soarin is a wonderful stallion for you, he's kind, caring, and loves you for who you are."

"Yeah, I really did luck out. And I don't blame either of you for being surprised, frankly I never thought I'd ever flirt at any stallion. But I guess that's love for ya, it makes you do things you normally wouldn't do." Rainbow Dash smiled.

"I suppose so, I mean I wouldn't know for sure." Fluttershy now looked a bit sad.

"Hey don't sweat it, your very special somepony just hasn't shown up yet. He's probably in a different town or something." Rainbow Dash waved a hoof dismissively. "After all you deserve an extra special somepony, somepony nice who loves animals and can respect your lack of interest in flying. Plus he'd have to also respect your shyness, so definitely not a stallion version of Pinkie Pie." She then chuckled.

Fluttershy giggled a little.

"You're right, I'll find him someday. Well, I'd better see to my little animal friends' dinners." Fluttershy started to leave, but then turned around a little and smiled. "Oh, and I'm calling dibs on Mare of Honor."

"Aw geez, you're as bad as Scootaloo." Rainbow Dash laughed. "Come on, ease up on me already will ya?"

Fluttershy and Scootaloo giggled/chuckled.

"Well I already promised to, so okay." Scootaloo grinned.

"I will too, I just wanted to beat the others at calling dibs. Especially Pinkie Pie." Fluttershy smiled.

"I understand, that pony gives a whole new meaning to the expression 'fashionably early'." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with amusement.

The three of them chuckled.

"Anyway, go ahead. I have to get started on Scootaloo's and my dinner anyway, I'm getting hungry." Rainbow Dash then said.

Fluttershy nodded understandingly with a smile. The three of them said their 'see you later's and Fluttershy headed home. Rainbow Dash then prepared dinner and she and Scootaloo ate, both of them at peace with how things had turned out.

As Scootaloo later admitted to the psychologist she still wished that her parents never died, but she knew that she couldn't get a better adopted mom than Rainbow Dash. Plus she was grateful to be part of a slightly-bigger family, one with grandparents as well as a mom and possible dad. Even though she always loved her birth parents Scootaloo sometimes resented how busy they got, and she was grateful that Rainbow Dash wasn't as busy. Not that she preferred Rainbow Dash to her birth parents mind you, she was just grateful that some good came out of the bad.

As for her wing, well, Scootaloo completely got over that. She still figured that she wouldn't have ever been able to fly anyway, and flying with Rainbow Dash was way more fun than flying on her own could possibly ever be. Besides, as Fluttershy proved pegasi didn't have to get jobs that required flying, so Scootaloo knew that she still had a good future ahead of her wing or no wing.


End file.
